Most news reaches us second-, third- or fourth-hand. A research institute publishes a report. A news agency summarises it. A website rewrites the summary. A social media account turns the rewrite into a headline. At every step, something can change: a caveat disappears, a range becomes a single number, "may" becomes "will".

What counts as a primary source

A primary source is the original record of an event or finding:

  • the full text of a law, court ruling or official statement;
  • the published study, not the press release about it;
  • the dataset, not the chart made from it;
  • the complete video or transcript, not the clip.

Secondary sources, such as news reports, explainers and summaries, are valuable. They add context and make complex material readable. But when a claim matters, the question is always: what does the original actually say?

A familiar pattern

A study reports that a food is "associated with a modest increase in risk in one group of participants". The press release says the food "increases risk". A news site writes that it "causes" the condition. A viral post says doctors are "warning everyone to stop eating it". No single step was an outright lie, yet the final claim bears little relation to the original finding.

How to find the primary source

  • Look for a link or citation in the article. Honest reporting usually provides one.
  • Search for the exact title of the report or study, with the name of the institution.
  • For statistics, find the agency that collects the data and look for the original table.
  • For quotes, look for a full transcript or recording.

If a story gives no way to reach its source, that absence is itself worth noting.

How Honest News handles sources

The Distortion Tracker is built for exactly this comparison. Paste the original text next to the report, and it highlights what was added, altered or omitted along the way. In the Claim to Evidence engine, sources are shown with their publisher, and every link is checked automatically. When the exact address of a document is not known, Honest News names the source without a link instead of guessing one.