Fact-Checking & Verification Policy

1. Our Commitment to Accuracy

The African Mail adheres to rigorous fact-checking and verification standards across all editorial formats, including written publications, video documentaries, investigative reports, and short-form visual dispatches. Our fundamental duty to our global readership is to report verifiable facts with context, balance, and independence.

2. Sourcing and Primary Evidence Standards

Our journalists and editorial contributors are required to prioritize primary sources above secondary summaries. Acceptable primary sources include:

• Official public records, gazettes, legislation, and verified court filings.
• Peer-reviewed research and official statistical releases from accredited institutions.
• On-the-record eyewitness accounts, verified participants, and direct interviews.
• Original photographic, satellite, and audiovisual data authenticated by our verification desk.

When secondary reporting is referenced, our editors verify the initial assertions independently and provide transparent attribution to the original reporting entity.

3. Verification of Anonymous Sources

Anonymous sourcing is permitted only when revealing an identity poses direct professional, legal, or physical danger to the source, and when the information is of clear public interest. Information from an anonymous source must be corroborated by at least two independent primary sources before publication. The senior editorial desk must approve all anonymous citations.

4. Audiovisual and Digital Media Authentication

In our video-first journalism, every piece of user-generated footage, archival clip, or third-party recording undergoes digital verification. Our desk inspects metadata, cross-references geolocation coordinates with ground landmarks, and reviews chronological consistency to ensure media is genuine and unmanipulated.

5. Editorial Review Workflow

No story or video documentary is published without a multi-tiered editorial review. Each piece is scrutinized by a copy editor, section editor, and fact-checker to validate statistics, names, geographic locations, translations, and chronological sequences.

6. Reader Submissions and Inquiries

We welcome scrutiny from our readers. If you believe a fact, statistic, or attribution in our coverage requires review, please email our fact-checking desk at verification@theafricanmail.com with the story link and supporting documentation.