Chandler Weekly is built on the idea that readers deserve information they can rely on. This Fact-Checking Policy explains how we verify what we publish — with particular care for the personal-finance and real-estate content that can affect a reader’s money and decisions. It works together with our Editorial Policy, Standards & Practices, and Corrections policy.
Verify before publishing, not after
Factual claims are checked before an article goes live, not corrected once readers spot a problem. That means confirming names, dates, figures, quotations, and the sequence of events against reliable sources, and reading each claim back against the evidence rather than against what we expected or assumed to be true. Verification is treated as part of writing, not an optional final step.
Primary sources first
Wherever possible we go to the primary source — the official dataset, the government filing, the company statement, the peer-reviewed study, the regulator’s own guidance — rather than relying on a second-hand summary that may have introduced its own errors. When we cite a figure or a claim, we aim to link to where it comes from so that you can check it for yourself instead of taking our word for it. A claim that cannot be traced to a credible source does not belong in a Chandler Weekly article.
The sources we rely on
For the money, property, and business topics we cover, we lean on authoritative, primary references. Depending on the subject, these can include the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the Case-Shiller index, the Internal Revenue Service, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, official company filings, and established academic and industry research. We prefer these to opinion, aggregation, or marketing material.
Data and statistics
Numbers are easy to misuse, so we treat them carefully. We pay attention to what a statistic actually measures, the time frame and baseline it uses, its source, and its limitations — and we present figures with the context needed to understand them rather than in isolation. A percentage without a base, a “record high” without an inflation adjustment, or an average that hides a wide distribution can all mislead even when technically accurate, and we work to avoid that.
Fact, interpretation, and opinion
We are careful to distinguish what is verified fact from what is interpretation or opinion. Facts are checked and sourced; analysis is clearly framed as our reading of those facts; and opinion is labelled as the publication’s perspective. This lets a reader always know how much confidence to place in a given statement.
Claims we cannot confirm
If we cannot verify something, we either leave it out or clearly attribute it and describe our confidence in it. We would far rather write “this is not yet confirmed” than present uncertainty as fact. On forward-looking topics, we do not make specific market predictions or promise particular outcomes; we explain the forces at work and let readers draw their own conclusions.
Recency and time-sensitive content
Some of what we publish has a shelf life — mortgage-rate context, tax rules, program details, and the like. We date our articles, and when the underlying facts change we update the piece and note that it has been updated rather than leaving stale information in place. Readers should always check the “last updated” date on time-sensitive material.
AI-assisted production and verification
Chandler Weekly content is produced with the assistance of AI tools, and our fact-checking standards apply to it in full. AI assistance does not lower our accuracy bar; if anything it raises the importance of verification, because plausible-sounding text is not the same as accurate text. Claims are checked against sources regardless of how a draft was produced, and the publication remains accountable for accuracy. Our overall approach is described in our AI Content Policy.
When we get it wrong
No process is perfect, and honest publications make mistakes. When an error reaches publication, we correct it openly and promptly under our Corrections policy, and we look at how it happened so we can reduce the chance of it recurring. A correction is not an embarrassment to be hidden; it is evidence that the process is working.
How to flag an error
If you believe we have published something inaccurate, please tell us at [email protected] with the article title or link, the specific point you believe is wrong, and — where possible — a source we can check. We review every report we receive and take them seriously.
Our commitment
Accuracy is not a feature of Chandler Weekly; it is the whole point. Everything else — the design, the voice, the weekly rhythm — is in service of giving you information you can actually trust and act on.
Sources we treat with caution
Not every source deserves equal weight. We treat marketing material, press releases, and content produced to sell something with appropriate scepticism, and we are wary of drawing sweeping conclusions from a single study or an unrepresentative sample. When sources disagree, we say so and explain the disagreement rather than quietly picking the one that fits a tidier story. The goal is always to give readers an accurate picture, including its uncertainties, rather than a false sense of precision.
Independence of verification
Our verification is not influenced by commercial relationships. A claim about an affiliate partner’s product is checked exactly as rigorously as a claim about anyone else’s, and a favourable fact is not waved through simply because it is convenient. If the evidence does not support a claim, the claim does not run, regardless of who benefits from it.
A living standard
Fact-checking is a practice, not a one-time promise. We refine how we verify as we learn, we pay attention to the errors we do make in order to prevent the next ones, and we hold every new piece to the same standard as the last. Accuracy compounds: a publication that gets the small things right, week after week, is one you can trust on the big things too.