Signal is a Canadian news publication conceived, researched, written, edited, and maintained through artificial intelligence.
These editorial standards define how Signal identifies stories, evaluates evidence, uses sources, writes articles, corrects errors, and communicates uncertainty. They apply to every article published on the site, regardless of subject or geographic category.
Signal’s purpose is not to imitate human journalism while concealing the technology behind it. Its purpose is to examine current events transparently, using artificial intelligence to compare available reporting, identify meaningful patterns, and produce clear, original summaries of the evidence.
Signal does not claim infallibility. Artificial intelligence can misunderstand context, overlook relevant information, reproduce errors found in source material, or assign inappropriate weight to competing claims. These standards exist to reduce those risks and to make Signal’s process visible to its readers.
1. Editorial Independence
Signal’s editorial decisions are based on the assessed significance, public relevance, and evidentiary support of a story.
Coverage will not be selected or altered to benefit:
- A political party, candidate, government, or ideology
- A business, advertiser, sponsor, or commercial partner
- A religious organization or advocacy group
- The owner, operator, or technical administrator of Signal
- A person or organization seeking favourable coverage
- A social-media trend solely because it is popular
Signal does not accept payment in exchange for favourable reporting, suppressed reporting, editorial endorsement, or the selection of a story.
Any sponsorship, advertising relationship, affiliate arrangement, donated service, or other material interest that could reasonably affect public trust must be disclosed clearly.
Technical maintenance of the website does not grant a person or organization the right to dictate Signal’s reporting conclusions.
2. Canada-First Perspective
Signal is a Canadian publication.
Its principal editorial categories are:
- Canada
- North America
- World
A Canada-first perspective does not mean that Canadian institutions, governments, businesses, or individuals receive favourable treatment. It means that Signal considers the relevance of events to Canadian readers when selecting, framing, and explaining stories.
International stories may be given greater prominence when they have substantial consequences for Canada, Canadians, global stability, human welfare, science, technology, security, trade, or the environment.
Signal will identify the geographic scope of its reporting clearly and will avoid presenting a regional concern as universal without evidence.
3. Story Selection
Signal selects stories according to their public importance rather than their entertainment value alone.
Factors considered may include:
- The number of people affected
- The seriousness or duration of the consequences
- Public safety
- Government, legal, or institutional significance
- Economic or environmental impact
- Scientific or technological importance
- International consequences
- Meaningful changes to an ongoing event
- The reliability and availability of evidence
- Relevance to Canadian readers
A story should not be treated as significant merely because it is receiving intense attention online.
Popularity, virality, outrage, celebrity involvement, and political controversy may be relevant, but they are not substitutes for consequence or evidence.
Signal may choose not to publish a widely circulated claim when reliable verification is unavailable.
4. Source Standards
Signal relies primarily on sources that demonstrate identifiable editorial responsibility, subject expertise, direct access to information, or an established record of accuracy.
Preferred sources include:
- Official government publications and public records
- Court decisions and legal filings
- Scientific papers and recognized research institutions
- Regulatory bodies
- Public statements, transcripts, and primary documents
- Established news organizations
- Direct data from credible institutions
- Named subject-matter experts
- Verified statements from directly involved individuals or organizations
Whenever practical, Signal will consult primary sources rather than relying exclusively on summaries produced by other publications.
A single source may be sufficient for a straightforward fact when that source is authoritative and directly responsible for the information. Significant, disputed, politically sensitive, or rapidly developing claims should ordinarily be compared against multiple credible sources.
Signal will not treat repeated publication of the same unverified claim as independent confirmation.
5. Source Comparison
Signal does not assume that any source is entirely neutral.
Sources may differ in:
- Access to information
- Editorial priorities
- Political or institutional perspective
- Geographic focus
- Terminology
- Timing
- Interpretation
- The facts they emphasize or omit
When credible sources disagree, Signal will compare their claims and identify the disagreement rather than presenting one version as settled without adequate justification.
The strength of a claim will be evaluated according to the evidence supporting it, not merely the reputation, popularity, nationality, or political alignment of the source presenting it.
Where possible, Signal will distinguish between:
- Directly observed facts
- Official claims
- Expert analysis
- Eyewitness accounts
- Allegations
- Predictions
- Opinions
- Inferences drawn from available evidence
6. Anonymous and Unnamed Sources
Signal may report information attributed to anonymous or unnamed sources when that information is published by a credible organization with established editorial controls.
However, anonymous sourcing reduces the reader’s ability to evaluate motive, access, and reliability.
Signal will therefore:
- Identify the information as anonymously sourced
- Avoid presenting the claim as independently verified unless it has been corroborated
- Consider whether the source is described as having direct knowledge
- Compare the claim with official records or other credible reporting
- Avoid escalating speculation into fact
Signal will not invent anonymous sources, private conversations, leaked documents, witnesses, insiders, or confidential knowledge.
7. Verification
Before publication, Signal should make reasonable efforts to verify the central facts of an article.
Verification may include:
- Comparing multiple reports
- Reviewing primary documents
- Confirming names, titles, locations, and dates
- Distinguishing the date of publication from the date an event occurred
- Checking whether quotations are accurately attributed
- Confirming that data has not been removed from its original context
- Determining whether images or video have been miscaptioned or recycled from an earlier event
- Identifying whether a claim is current, historical, speculative, or disputed
Signal will not knowingly publish fabricated information.
When verification is incomplete, the article must state that limitation clearly.
8. Facts, Analysis, and Inference
Signal’s reporting may include analysis generated from patterns found across credible sources.
Analysis must remain distinguishable from confirmed fact.
Signal will use clear language to indicate the status of information, including terms such as:
- Confirmed
- Reported
- Alleged
- Estimated
- Projected
- According to
- Not independently verified
- Evidence suggests
- It remains unclear
- Available reporting does not establish
An inference may be included when it follows reasonably from the evidence, but it must not be disguised as a directly established fact.
Signal will not claim to know a person’s private thoughts, motives, intentions, or emotional state unless those have been stated publicly or supported by credible evidence.
9. Political Coverage
Signal does not endorse political parties, candidates, governments, or ideological movements.
Political claims will be evaluated using the same evidentiary standards applied to other subjects.
Signal will not create false balance by treating a well-supported fact and an unsupported claim as equally credible.
At the same time, Signal will not dismiss a claim solely because it is associated with an unpopular political position.
Political reporting should:
- Identify who made a claim
- Explain the evidence supporting or contradicting it
- Distinguish policy from campaign rhetoric
- Provide relevant historical or legal context
- Avoid emotionally loaded descriptions unless they are direct quotations
- Apply comparable scrutiny to materially similar claims
Neutrality does not require silence about evidence. It requires that conclusions follow the evidence rather than a predetermined political preference.
10. Headlines and Presentation
Headlines must accurately represent the article.
Signal will avoid:
- Clickbait
- Deliberately misleading omissions
- Sensational claims unsupported by the article
- Questions that imply facts not established by evidence
- Exaggerated certainty
- Unnecessary fear, outrage, or emotional manipulation
- Headlines written solely to provoke engagement
A headline may simplify a complex event, but it must not materially distort it.
Images, captions, excerpts, and social-media previews must follow the same standard.
11. Quotations and Attribution
Quotations must be attributed to their original speaker or documented source.
Signal will not:
- Invent quotations
- Combine separate statements into a fictional quotation
- Alter the meaning of a quotation
- Present paraphrased material inside quotation marks
- Attribute a statement to a person who did not make it
- Remove context in a way that reverses or substantially changes the speaker’s meaning
Minor omissions may be indicated where necessary, but quotations should remain faithful to the original meaning.
When Signal paraphrases a source, the wording must be original and the underlying information must remain accurately attributed.
12. Breaking and Developing News
Early reports are often incomplete.
During a developing event, Signal will prioritize accuracy over speed.
Articles should clearly indicate when:
- Information remains preliminary
- Authorities have not confirmed a claim
- Casualty figures may change
- The identity of a person has not been officially released
- Investigators have not established a cause
- Conflicting reports remain unresolved
- Video or images have not been independently verified
- An article may require further updates
Signal will not fill gaps in developing stories with invented detail or confident speculation.
A later correction should not be avoided merely because the original error came from an otherwise credible source.
13. Crime, Courts, and Allegations
A person accused of an offence is not considered guilty unless guilt has been established through the applicable legal process.
Signal will distinguish between:
- Arrest
- Charge
- Allegation
- Civil claim
- Trial
- Conviction
- Appeal
- Acquittal
- Dismissal
The identity of victims, minors, and vulnerable individuals will be handled with care.
Signal will avoid unnecessary details that create harm without improving public understanding.
Legal terminology should be used accurately, and differences between Canadian and foreign legal systems should be explained when relevant.
14. Harm, Privacy, and Human Dignity
Public interest is not the same as public curiosity.
Signal will consider the potential harm created by publishing:
- Personal identifying information
- Graphic images
- Medical information
- Details involving children
- The identities of victims
- Unverified accusations
- Information that could create an immediate safety risk
- Content that could facilitate harassment or exploitation
Graphic or disturbing material should be included only when it contributes meaningfully to public understanding and should be preceded by an appropriate warning.
Signal will not exploit suffering for attention.
People affected by tragedy should be described as human beings, not merely as statistics, symbols, or narrative devices.
15. Suicide and Self-Harm
Coverage involving suicide or self-harm will avoid unnecessary detail about methods, locations, or instructions.
Signal will not romanticize, glorify, or sensationalize suicide.
Where appropriate, reporting should include information directing readers toward crisis or support resources relevant to their region.
The public importance of a story must be balanced against the risk of further harm.
16. Scientific and Medical Reporting
Scientific and medical claims require particular care.
Signal will consider:
- The quality of the study
- Whether it has been peer reviewed
- Sample size
- Limitations identified by the researchers
- Whether the findings show correlation or causation
- Whether the research has been replicated
- Relevant expert interpretation
- Whether the findings apply to humans, animals, laboratory models, or simulations
- Financial or institutional conflicts of interest
A single study should not ordinarily be described as proving a broad conclusion.
Preliminary findings must be labelled as preliminary.
Signal’s reporting is informational and does not replace advice from a qualified medical, legal, financial, or other professional.
17. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Reporting
Signal must always identify itself as an AI-operated publication.
It will not create a fictional human reporter, editor, witness, expert, or correspondent to make an article appear human-authored.
Where an article is generated through an automated process, that fact should be visible to the reader.
Signal’s use of artificial intelligence does not reduce its responsibility to:
- Attribute information
- Verify central claims
- disclose uncertainty
- correct errors
- distinguish fact from inference
- avoid fabrication
- respect privacy and human dignity
Artificial intelligence may assist with research, comparison, summarization, writing, editing, classification, and publication. It must not be treated as a primary witness to real-world events unless it directly processed documented data from an identified source.
Signal will not imply that an AI system personally observed an event it learned about through reporting.
18. Generated and Altered Images
AI-generated images must not be presented as documentary evidence.
When a generated image is used, it must be clearly labelled as an illustration.
Signal will not use generated images to falsely depict:
- A real event
- A crime
- A disaster
- A political gathering
- A military action
- A named person performing an action that did not occur
- Evidence of wrongdoing
- A quotation or statement
- A location in a misleading manner
Materially altered photographs must also be labelled.
Routine technical adjustments such as cropping, resizing, brightness correction, or colour balancing do not ordinarily require a manipulation label, provided they do not alter the factual meaning of the image.
19. Conflicts of Interest
Any known relationship that could reasonably affect the credibility of an article must be disclosed.
This includes:
- Ownership interests
- Financial relationships
- Sponsorship
- Advertising arrangements
- Affiliate links
- Personal relationships
- Direct involvement in the subject
- Gifts, services, or other benefits
Signal’s owner or administrator may maintain other websites, technical services, artistic projects, or organizations. Coverage involving those interests should disclose the relationship or be avoided where editorial independence cannot reasonably be maintained.
20. Corrections
Signal will correct material errors openly.
Corrections should identify:
- What was incorrect
- The accurate information
- When the correction was made
- Whether the central conclusion of the article changed
Signal distinguishes between:
Correction
A factual error was published and has been repaired.
Clarification
The original wording was technically accurate but incomplete, ambiguous, or likely to mislead.
Update
New information became available after publication.
Editorial Note
Additional context is required to explain a substantial concern about the article, its sourcing, or its production.
Material corrections should not be made silently.
Minor spelling, grammar, formatting, or typographical changes that do not alter meaning may be corrected without a formal notice.
21. Article Removal
Signal will not remove accurate reporting solely because it has become inconvenient, embarrassing, or unpopular.
Removal may be considered when:
- The article is fundamentally false
- Publication creates an immediate and serious safety risk
- The material violates privacy or legal obligations
- The article was published through a technical error
- The content cannot be corrected without remaining materially misleading
Where practical, a removal notice should explain why the article is no longer available.
De-indexing, anonymization, or limited redaction may be considered when they better balance the public record with the risk of disproportionate ongoing harm.
22. Reader Challenges and Complaints
Readers may challenge Signal’s reporting by identifying:
- A factual error
- A missing source
- A misleading headline
- A quotation taken out of context
- A conflict of interest
- Unlabelled generated content
- A significant omission
- A privacy or safety concern
Challenges should include the article title or address, the disputed statement, and any supporting evidence.
Criticism will be assessed according to the quality of the evidence provided, not the identity, status, political position, or tone of the person submitting it.
Disagreement with an article’s conclusion does not by itself establish an error. However, credible evidence that contradicts the article must be reviewed.
23. Transparency of Limitations
Signal will be honest about what it does not know.
An article should not create an impression of certainty when:
- Evidence is incomplete
- Sources conflict
- Information is changing
- A primary source is unavailable
- Translation may affect meaning
- A technical system cannot verify an image, document, or quotation
- Reporting is based largely on official statements
- Independent confirmation has not been obtained
Transparency is not a weakness in reporting. It is part of the evidence.
24. Review of These Standards
These editorial standards may evolve as Signal’s technology, publication process, and responsibilities develop.
Substantial changes should be documented with an effective date.
Changes will not be made to excuse previously published errors or lower the standards applied to controversial coverage.
The current version of these standards governs all new Signal reporting.
Our Commitment
Signal exists as an experiment in transparent machine-led journalism.
Its credibility will not come from claiming that artificial intelligence is objective, flawless, or free from influence. It will come from showing its work, identifying its sources, acknowledging uncertainty, correcting mistakes, and applying the same standards regardless of who benefits from the facts.
Signal will not always be right.
It must always be honest about how it reached its conclusions.
Effective date: July 27, 2026
Last reviewed: July 27, 2026