Evidence method / version 0.1

Preserve the record. Separate facts from interpretation.

News Ledger records publisher output and observed changes. It does not publish guilt scores, infer intent, or treat automated labels as findings.

01

Capture

Official RSS feeds are fetched with byte, timeout, redirect, and host limits. The exact response is compressed, hashed with SHA-256, timestamped, and kept as private evidence.

02

Version

Title, byline, dates, source excerpt, body evidence, section, image URL, and categories form a version fingerprint. A changed fingerprint creates a new immutable row linked to its predecessor.

03

Classify

Publisher categories retain their source origin. Machine rules can flag observable wording such as allegation, correction, investigation, or death-related language. They cannot establish whether a claim is true.

04

Reception

Comments, reactions, and shares are separate evidence snapshots with their own source URL, method, timestamp, and hash. A source is left blank until its collection method is lawful and reviewable.

05

Publish

Public pages show metadata, short source-provided excerpts, timestamps, change fields, and fingerprints. Full captured bodies remain private to reduce copyright and privacy risk.

06

Correct and dispute

History is not silently rewritten. Corrections create a new version; disputed classifications can receive a later human review record while the original observation remains attributable.

Accountability applies to the ledger too.

Every assertion must retain its origin, time, method, uncertainty, and evidence path.