Power The People

PUBLIC EDITORIAL STANDARD

Editorial Methodology

Every article should help an everyday person understand a public record without changing what that record says.

Primary-source reporting

Our legislative reporting begins with official bill text and legislative records. We identify the version being discussed, retain its source links, and distinguish what the record establishes from what it does not answer.

How an article is made

  1. Discover. We monitor official legislative records in the states we cover.
  2. Research. The selected bill text is read and summarized in everyday language.
  3. Verify. Claims, titles, summaries, and citations are checked against the supplied official record before publication.
  4. Connect. A main bill guide may be accompanied by focused child articles. Each child article independently reads the selected bill text instead of relying on the parent article as evidence.

Automation and human accountability

Software and language models assist with discovery, research, drafting, categorization, and quality checks. Our publication rules require source-backed claims and block unresolved fact-check failures. Power the People remains accountable for everything published under its name.

Titles, independence, and fairness

Titles can be direct and compelling, but they may not promise facts the source cannot support. We do not infer a lawmaker's motive, public reaction, cost, or legal outcome without evidence. Coverage decisions are based on public impact and reader usefulness, not support for a political party.

Duplicate and weak-page review

Before saving an article, the full body is compared with existing coverage using text and semantic similarity. After publication, age, reader activity, depth, verification, and similarity feed an editorial review queue. Staff may improve a page, exclude it from search, merge it into stronger coverage with a permanent redirect, or remove it after review. Low traffic alone never triggers automatic deletion.

Updates and corrections

Substantive errors are corrected promptly. Material updates should preserve the original source trail and update the modification date. Read our corrections policy or learn about the Power the People Editorial Desk.