The Reasons We Hold A Report Back

Most of what reaches us is talk about events rather than events. These are the reasons, in plain words.

Most of what reaches this engine is talk about events rather than the events themselves. That is the single biggest reason anything is held, and it is what this service exists to separate.

It was commentary, not an event

An explainer, an interview, an argument or a piece asking what something means. It concerns a real event without being one.

It had not happened yet

Announced, scheduled or being prepared. We record what has occurred.

It followed an earlier event

Recovery, cleanup, a revised casualty count or a damage assessment. The report is recent; the event it follows is not.

It was about the past

An anniversary, a history or a feature. Real, and not news.

It might happen

May, might, could, is expected to, analysts believe.

One side said it, and nobody confirmed it

A claim we are not willing to carry as a record of what occurred.

Somebody denied it happened

A denial is not a record of the thing being denied.

It covered many events at once

A digest, a daily briefing or a live blog. Not one occurrence.

It happened too long ago

The reports carry a date well in the past. Usually an anniversary piece or an archive item resurfacing, occasionally a model calling a history feature the news - the date settles it either way.

It is not something this map covers

It happened, and it is not one of the kinds of event this service records. A drug seizure is real; it is not on this map.

Only one source carried it

We publish what more than one independent source reports, with a narrow exception for official wires filing on their own account.

It nearly cleared our bar

Reported, and close to the level we require before we will carry an event of its kind. A further independent account would have been enough.

It was a long way from our bar

Reported, and far enough below the level we require that further corroboration would not have changed the answer.

It was not a new event

The reports were about something already on the map, or did not clear the bar we set for its kind.

Held for another reason

Recorded, and not published. The engine gave a reason we do not summarise here.