Keep reported claims traceable to their sources.
News reporting turns filings, public records, datasets, reports, statements, transcripts, research, and other Source material into published claims. The important question is not simply whether the finished story contains links. It is whether the publication can still identify the Source behind an important reported claim and return to the Reference when the story is reviewed, updated, corrected, or followed up.
The useful question is not “Does this story have links?”
A collection of links can show what material appears somewhere in a story. It does not necessarily show which document, dataset, statement, filing, or other Source supports a particular reported assertion. Journalism guidance emphasizes verification, clear attribution, original Sources where possible, and access to supporting material where appropriate. A managed Reference gives the publication a structured record identifying the Source behind the reporting instead of leaving that relationship only in a hyperlink.
What was this reported claim based on?
News stories can combine documentary Sources with interviews, direct observation, reporter verification, analysis, and other original reporting. These forms of reporting are not interchangeable. Statistics drawn from a government dataset, allegations described in a court filing, figures taken from a regulatory disclosure, or statements drawn from an official transcript can be represented by managed References to those external Sources. Interviews and direct observation are also Sources for reporting, but they do not automatically require an external documentary Reference. The useful distinction is between the different kinds of Source material behind the claim, not between sourced and unsourced reporting.
Keep the reporting Reference through the life of the story
Use CiteKit as the reference-management layer for documentary Sources so their identity does not remain only inside a hyperlink, note, draft, or finished Citation.
Keep the reporting trail useful after publication
Reusable reporting References
Save structured References identifying reports, filings, datasets, public records, transcripts, research, and other documentary Sources instead of leaving their identity only inside one story's URLs, notes, or citation text.
Story-level Reference Sets
Group the References relevant to a particular story in a Reference Set while keeping the underlying Reference records in the broader Reference Library for editing, updates, follow-up reporting, and related coverage.
Published source connections
Use managed References in Citations, Footnotes, Tooltips, Bibliographies, or Source Lists where the reporting calls for a visible connection between a published claim and its documentary Source.
Linking and reference management solve different problems
A link points the reader outward. A Reference keeps a structured record of the reporting Source.
| Linking | Reference management |
|---|---|
| Where can the reader go? | What Source supported this reported claim, and can the newsroom return to its Reference later? |
6 Sources
Associated Press. Telling the Story. https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/telling-the-story/
Associated Press. When is it OK to use anonymous sources? https://www.ap.org/the-definitive-source/behind-the-news/when-is-it-ok-to-use-anonymous-sources/
Society of Professional Journalists. SPJ Code of Ethics. https://www.spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/
American Press Institute. Show the reporting and sources that support your work. https://americanpressinstitute.org/show-sources/
The Journalist's Resource. Key data- and research-oriented government agencies that media members should know about. https://journalistsresource.org/skills/research/u-s-government-agencies-reports-data-resources
Pew Research Center. When Online Content Disappears. https://www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024/05/17/when-online-content-disappears/
Keep the reporting trail identifiable.
A story may be updated, corrected, expanded, or followed by new reporting. References identifying the documents, datasets, filings, reports, transcripts, and other documentary Sources behind important claims can remain available for editors and reporters to revisit.