How Our Automatic News Works.

Our reporters and editors write and check the stories in our news sections. Alongside them, a few pages are compiled automatically, so that you can see what the rest of the world is reporting as it happens. Each automatic page is clearly labelled, and none of it is passed off as our own reporting.

The verified briefing

Our verified briefing is built from the headlines that news organisations publish in their public news feeds — the same feeds that appear on our World Wire.

• A story appears in the briefing only when at least two different news organisations report it independently. Headlines from the same organisation count once.
• We show one organisation’s headline, name it, and link to every organisation’s own report, so you can read each one at the source. We do not copy their articles.
• The briefing is rebuilt through the day, and each day’s edition is kept in an archive.
• Being reported by several outlets is a strong signal that something happened — but it is not a guarantee that every detail is right. Read the original reports, and our own coverage, for the full picture.

Official releases

Our official releases section reproduces statements from public bodies, in full and unchanged, only where the publisher’s terms allow it. For example, the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India allows its material to be reproduced free of charge with acknowledgement of the source, and most NASA material is not subject to copyright in the United States.

• Every release is labelled Official release, names the publisher and links to the original.
• These are the publisher’s own words, not our reporting or our view. Claims in them are the publisher’s claims.
• We do not copy photographs or other material that the publisher may not own.
• Our editors can hold releases for approval, remove them or follow them up with reporting of their own.

AI-assisted briefs

If our editors switch this feature on, software may draft a short summary of a story that several news organisations are reporting, using only their headlines and summaries. Such briefs are labelled AI-assisted brief, name and link the reports they are based on, and are subject to our AI policy. They are never used for fact checks.

What is never automatic

• Our own news stories, analysis, fact checks and opinion pieces.
• Corrections, which our editors make and record openly.
• Decisions about what is true.

Spotted a problem?

Automatic systems make mistakes — for example, grouping two different stories that share a few words. If you see one, please tell us through our contact page. See also our corrections policy.