While we are on the subject of facts, let's take a quick look at who ePMedia is and how it works -- because getting the facts right is a big part of it.

Community site

ePluribus Media Community is a Scoop-powered site providing open forums for community discussion about issues of common concern and encourages the highest standards of ethics and journalism.

What you post on this site is considered your own personal work, not the work of ePluribus Media. However, as a community, we strive to further responsible research, writing, and journalism standards and encourage all posters to adhere to these tenets. See the Toolbox and the Citizen Journalism sections for examples and more information.

The ePluribus Media Community is a self-governing site, with five simple "rules" for posting:

• Never post personal information.
• Never post anything that you do not want in the public domain.
• Avoid "below the belt" personal attacks on other posters
• Prevent flame-wars. Flame-wars (insult hurling matches) consume our oxygen and our energy and should be avoided. Spirited debate, on the other hand, hones our arguments, sharpens our reasoning, and tests our logic.
• Avoid abusing copyrights. When copying material from other sites or publications, link to the original instead of copying the entire original article. [Fair use is approximately 250 words directly quoted from the original.]

Here's a short list of tips on embracing "facts."

• When posting a commentary on the site remember it is your work.
• If you present something as fact, be prepared to back it up.
• Take your words seriously if you expect others to take them seriously.(i.e. humor, satire and the occasional rant excepted)
• When you're wrong, admit it.

Journal

The ePluribus Media Journal hosts stories published by ePluribus Media ... much like a news magazine. Articles published on the Journal come in through submissions or they are the product of a collaborative effort by ePluribus Media researchers, writers, fact checkers and other volunteers. Only these stories are considered the work of ePluribus Media.

The Journal is now publishing an average of two articles per week. Articles (Features, Op-ed, Book Reviews, Interviews) selected for publication by the ePluribus Media editorial committee are held to the highest standards of journalism and journalism ethics.

The fact-checking team, challenges assertions, double-checks facts cited, and verifies links, working from publicly available information or, in cases of interviewed sources, the reporters' notes [or recording]. After the fact-checking is completed, the writer/editor resolves any questions or inaccuracies and the piece is sent to copy-edit. The ePluribus Media copy-editors, edit the article in accordance to The Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook and Libel Manual guidelines.

Articles published in the Journal are promoted by the ePluribus Media PR team and are open for discussion on the Community site.

ePluribus Media Timelines

The Timelines are another example of ePluribus Media's dedication to fact-checking. Each submission for any of the Timelines is thoroughly fact-checked prior to being entered in the appropriate timeline database.

Investigates

The ePluribus Media Investigates site is the backbone of the the ePluribus Media research team. Tips and leads are set up for vetting and investigation by the research team. Read the Site Policy, but I am reprinting number 4 below:

Ownership of Work. All research, aggregation and analysis work products created by the cooperative, collaborative efforts of ePluribus Media members and deposited, within ePluribus Media's common workspace remains the property of ePluribus Media members as a whole. The nature of this cooperative, collaborative effort relies on privacy and security in order to complete its objectives; it is imperative, therefore, that work products generated by ePluribus Media members collectively are protected and preserved as works owned by the whole as ePluribus Media, until the work is formally published when deemed appropriate for release to the public by the collective members and administrators of ePluribus Media. Until work is formally published, no individual member of ePluribus Media can use the ePluribus Media research, aggregation or analysis for his or her own work.