How We Analyze Stories
We do not treat every claim as equally credible. Conclusions follow the quality of the available evidence, and we say plainly when the evidence cannot settle a question.
Source hierarchy
- 1.Original documents and official transcripts
- 2.International organizations
- 3.Court records and legislation
- 4.Government sources from every relevant side
- 5.Academic research
- 6.Established independent reporting
- 7.Credible local reporting from the countries involved
Anonymous social-media posts are never used as evidence. Government statements are labelled as claims, not confirmed facts, unless an independent body has verified them.
What we distinguish
- Confirmed event
- Established by documents, records or independent verification. Not in serious dispute.
- Official claim
- A government or party statement. Reported as a claim unless independently verified.
- Expert interpretation
- A qualified reading of the evidence, attributed to the person or institution making it.
- Disputed account
- Two or more credible accounts conflict and the evidence does not settle it.
- Editorial analysis
- Plato's Cave's own assessment, clearly marked as ours and based on the evidence shown.
Confidence ratings
A rating describes the state of the evidence, not our sympathy for a side. Where stronger evidence supports one account, we say so rather than forcing a false balance.
Labels you will see
Research and editorial review
Reporting and primary documents are gathered automatically from credible sources. An analysis step identifies the major sides, extracts claims and counterclaims, builds the timeline, compares supporting evidence, flags contradictions and proposes preliminary confidence labels.
Nothing generated this way is published automatically. Every draft is stored with the status “Editorial Review Required” and only becomes public after a person has checked the claims, the labels and every source link.
We avoid loaded wording and emotional headlines. When credible sources disagree, we show the disagreement instead of merging it into one misleading answer.