Fact-Checking Policy

Why this page exists

Peoples Feed writes about named living people. A wrong designation, a wrong number or a wrong date attached to a real person is not a small mistake. It can damage a career and it can end a publication. This page sets out exactly what we check, in what order, and what we do when a check fails.

Every article published on peoplesfeed.in/ has been through this process, carried out by a named human editor. Nothing is published on the strength of an AI tool's output.

The verification process, step by step

Step 1: Establish the person

Before anything else we confirm, from at least two independent sources, that the person exists as described.

• Full name, with the spelling as the person’s own institution spells it.
• Exact current designation, with the date on which we confirmed it was current.
• The institution, with its full and correct name.
• Whether the person is living. If they have died, the date of death, verified against an official statement, a government condolence release or two independent established outlets. Never against social media alone.

Step 2: Establish the act

We confirm the specific thing the person did, the date it happened and the place it happened. An act with no date does not get published as news. If a date is approximate, the article says it is approximate and says why.

Step 3: Establish the evidence

We locate the document behind the claim: the order, the notification, the citation, the filing, the judgment, the annual report, the published paper. We read the document. We do not read a summary of the document and treat that as reading it.

Step 4: Verify every number

Each number in the article is traced to a named source, and that source is named in the text near the number. If two credible sources give different figures, we publish both and say which one comes from where. We never average two figures to produce a third. We never round a figure upward for effect.

Where we have calculated a figure ourselves, for example a percentage change or a per-capita rate, we say so and we show the two inputs so a reader can redo the arithmetic.

Step 5: Verify every quotation

Every quote is copied from a source we opened, with the date and the place it was said. We record where it came from. A quote taken from another outlet’s interview is attributed to that outlet by name and date. We never reconstruct a quote from memory and we never write a plausible one.

Step 6: The name and designation check

This is run separately, immediately before publication, on every article that names a living person. It is recorded in the internal file for that article.

• Exact spelling of the name, and the source we took it from.
• Exact current designation, and the URL of the page or order that confirms it.
• Is the designation current as of today: yes, no, or could not confirm.
• If it is “could not confirm”, the article must say what the designation was and on what date it was last confirmed, or the designation comes out.

Step 7: The living-person check

Before publication we run the living-person audit on every article that names somebody.

• Is any allegation stated as a fact anywhere, including in the headline, the meta description, the caption or the alt text?
• Is any biographical claim in the piece not traced to a document we opened?
• Does the piece describe anyone by caste, religion, region, disability, appearance or family in a way that is not the reported act itself?
• Does it contain a private contact detail, a home address or a residential location?
• Does it name or make identifiable a person under 18 in a context the rules do not allow?
• Is a right of reply required, and has it been obtained?

Step 8: The right of reply check

If the article contains an allegation, an inquiry, a criticism of professional conduct, a number contradicting one the subject published, or a third-party claim about the subject, we confirm that we wrote to the official address, on what date, listing the claims, with a deadline of at least 24 hours for a news story and at least 72 hours for a profile. If that has not happened, the claim is removed or the article is held. This is recorded for every piece.

Step 9: Source count and link check

We confirm the minimum source count for the shape has been met, that at least three sources are primary, and on a profile that at least one source is independent of the subject. Every outbound link is opened and confirmed to resolve to the document we cited. Archived copies are kept of sources that are likely to move or be deleted.

Step 10: Editor sign-off

A named editor reads the finished piece, confirms the checks above were run, and approves publication. The editor who approves is accountable for the article.

The primary-source hierarchy

Where sources disagree, the higher one on this list wins, and we say in the article which source we followed.

We link the original, never another outlet’s version of it. The PIB release, not the story about the PIB release. The gazette notification, not the summary.

What does not count as a source

Medium, Substack unless the author is the subject, personal blogs, Quora, Reddit, ResearchGate posts, content farms, AI-written aggregator sites, unattributed listicles, “top 10 inspiring people” pages, awards from vanity award mills, and social posts by people who were not participants.

A post by the person themselves, their ministry, their university or their unit is that party speaking on the record, and we cite it with the date and a screenshot on file.

Wikipedia is an index of sources, not a source. We open its citation, verify it and cite that instead.

Preprints on arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv and SSRN are not peer reviewed. Where we cite one we write “a preprint, not yet peer reviewed” on first mention.

What gets held

An article is held, not published, when any of these is true:

• The headline figure could not be verified from a primary source.
• A designation could not be confirmed as current and the subject is identified by that designation.
• A right of reply was required and has not been obtained.
• The article is short of the minimum source count for its shape, or short of three primary sources.
• A quotation cannot be traced to a source we opened.
• The living-person audit failed on any point.
• There is a credible report that the subject has died and we have not been able to confirm it either way.
• A photograph’s licence or permission cannot be evidenced.

How we treat allegations and legal process

An FIR is not a conviction. A charge sheet is not a conviction. A notice is not a finding. A summons is not a verdict. We name the stage of the process and the document: “the agency filed a charge sheet on [date] alleging X”, never “X did”. If the person has denied it, the denial appears in the same section as the allegation. If they have not been asked, we say they have not been asked, and in most cases we do not run the claim at all until they have been.

How readers can challenge a fact

We want to be told. Send it to corrections@peoplesfeed.in with these four things:

1. The full URL of the article.
2. The exact sentence or figure you are challenging, copied and pasted.
3. What you say the correct fact is.
4. The document that shows it, or a link to it.

What happens next: we acknowledge within one working day. We assess within three working days. If the challenge is right, we fix it, usually the same day it is confirmed, and we place a dated correction note on the article and an entry in the public log. If we cannot confirm your version, we write back and tell you what we checked and what we found. If we disagree, we say so in writing and tell you how to escalate.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may escalate to our Grievance Officer at grievance@peoplesfeed.in. The full process is on the Grievance Redressal page.

What happens when we get it wrong

We correct on the page, date the change, and log it publicly. We do not quietly delete and we do not silently rewrite. The four-step ladder, the markup we use and the public log are on the Public Corrections Policy page.

Related policies

• Editorial Policy
• Public Corrections Policy
• Grievance Redressal

Effective date: 11 September 2026
Last updated: 11 September 2026