Editorial standards.

This page sets out how America Strikes sources, verifies, fact-checks, labels, and corrects published material. It is binding on every contributor, including the editor. If anything on this page is contradicted by what you find on the site, the contradiction is the bug. Tell us at corrections@americastrikes.com.

Sourcing

Every factual claim must be tied to a primary or first-degree secondary source the reader can verify. Order of preference:

1. Primary government releases (US and foreign), official transcripts, regulatory filings, court documents.
2. Named major outlets with their own original reporting: AP, Reuters, AFP, BBC, NYT, WaPo, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg.
3. Specialty trade press with subject-matter authority on the specific beat (e.g., USNI News for naval operations, Defense News for procurement, OilPrice.com for crude markets).
4. Named experts speaking on the record, with the speaker's affiliation disclosed.

Tweets, anonymous Telegram channels, and unverified rumor are excluded by default. If a social-media post is the news, we say so explicitly and link the post — we never launder a tweet into a "report."

Unnamed sources

We do not run "an anonymous source told an anonymous outlet" chains. If we cite reporting that itself relies on an unnamed source, we attribute the chain to its named outlet ("Reuters, citing a senior administration official, reports …") and link it. We do not currently use our own unnamed sources, and if that ever changes, the editor will document the source's category, the verification steps taken, and the reason for granting anonymity, in the article itself.

Fact-checking methodology

Before any article is published, the editor verifies:

• Every linked URL resolves to live, on-topic content from the named publisher.
• Every quoted statement appears verbatim in the cited source, or is plainly paraphrased and labeled as such.
• Every numeric claim (price levels, casualty counts, vote counts, dates) matches the cited source on the day of publication.
• Names, titles, and affiliations are spelled and capitalized as the named subject uses them publicly.
• Maps, place names, and territorial language follow standard US-press usage; disputed territories are described in neutral terms with both claims noted where relevant.

Where two reputable named sources contradict each other, both are cited and the contradiction is surfaced to the reader. We do not pretend to have resolved a conflict we have not.

Labels we use

• Breaking — fast-moving developing story; expect updates and possible corrections.
• News — confirmed reporting on a discrete event.
• Analysis — informed interpretation by the named author or desk. Analysis is opinion, labeled.
• Explainer — background or context for a complex topic, intended for an intelligent generalist reader.
• Live updates — rolling, time-stamped log of an unfolding event.

Corrections policy

If we publish an error of fact, we correct it. The correction appears at the top of the affected article, dated, signed, and describing what was wrong and what is now right. We do not silently rewrite published claims. Every correction also lands on the public corrections log.

Stylistic edits (typos, punctuation, broken links repaired without changing the cited claim) are made silently. Updates to ongoing events that change the factual landscape are appended as a clearly-marked update with a timestamp; they do not erase the prior version of the claim. Any reader can request a correction at corrections@americastrikes.com; we respond within 48 hours.

AI-assisted reporting disclosure

America Strikes is a small, AI-assisted newsroom. We use Anthropic's Claude to scan public sources, draft initial copy from primary documents, and triage incoming tips. Every published article is reviewed by the editor before it appears, and every factual claim must trace to a primary source the reader can verify. The byline reflects the editorial entity responsible for the published piece — not the model that drafted it.

We do not publish AI-generated material that has not been reviewed by the editor. We do not publish AI-generated images presented as news photographs. Cover images are sourced from Wikimedia Commons, DVIDS (US-government public-domain military imagery), Unsplash, or Pexels with proper credit, or are clearly-marked editorial cards.

Conflicts of interest

Affiliate links are disclosed in every article footer and on the disclosure page. Display advertising is served programmatically; the editor does not approve individual creatives and does not coordinate coverage with advertisers. We do not accept payment for coverage, ever. The editor holds no equity in any defense contractor, oil major, or other entity routinely covered on this site, and will publicly disclose any holding that could be construed as a conflict.

What we don't do

• Doxxing or naming private individuals not directly relevant to the story.
• Calls to violence, harassment, or extralegal action.
• Promotion of any partisan candidate or movement. Coverage is policy- and event-focused.
• Fabricated quotes or paraphrased statements presented as direct.
• "Regime" framing applied to any United States administration. The term is reserved for the Iranian government in the specific Iranian-government sense, consistent with standard US-press usage.
• SEO spam: title-cased clickbait, fake exclusivity, "shocking/explosive/bombshell" framing.

Diversity of sources

Where the news permits, we deliberately cite both Western and regional outlets covering Iran-related stories — Tasnim, IRNA, Al Jazeera, Tehran Times alongside AP, Reuters, NYT — so that readers can see how the same event is described from different vantage points. We do not treat any single outlet, including English-language ones, as the sole arbiter of what happened.

Accountability

The editor is publicly identified on the About page. Direct accountability for any published error rests with the editor. If you believe an article violates these standards, write to corrections@americastrikes.com; we respond within 48 hours, publish a correction where warranted, and document the case in the corrections log.