We report what the public record shows, and nothing beyond it.
AfterTheClip verifies the incident behind a clip and any later developments the public record supports. Every story is built from verifiable public sources — court records, official statements, and established reporting — not conjecture or pile-on momentum.
Source-first methodology
Stories begin with the public record, not the clip. We verify the incident and its current status using court filings, agency statements, verified local reporting, and official public documents.
We report the verified incident; a later real-world development is added only when the source record supports it.
Social media chatter, repost counts, and pile-on consensus are not sources.
Viral framing is only applied when primary spread evidence supports it independently of opinion.
Virality evidence gate
A story is not labeled viral just because a repost felt big. Viral framing requires a filled evidence block with primary spread evidence and a secondary spread signal.
Strong or medium evidence can support viral framing if other review gates also pass.
Weak or no evidence means the story stays out of viral SEO and distribution language.
Sourcing standard
Before any factual claim is published, it must meet one of two thresholds: at least two independent, reputable sources that agree on the substance, or a single official or court record that establishes the fact directly.
Reputable sources include established news organizations, court dockets, agency press releases, and government records.
A single social media post — even from the subject — does not clear this bar without corroboration.
When the two-source or official-record standard cannot be met, the claim is labeled as unverified or omitted.
Naming policy
We name individuals only when they appear in the public record of a newsworthy, sourced matter. Being in a viral clip does not, by itself, make someone a legitimate subject of a named story.
Subjects of public court records, law enforcement action, or official statements may be named when the story is verified and in the public interest.
Private individuals with no public-record nexus to the underlying matter are not named.
We are especially cautious with individuals who appear incidentally — bystanders, family members, witnesses who did not seek public attention.
Claim labeling
We distinguish between what has been established, what has been alleged, and what remains unknown. We do not assert guilt before adjudication.
We write "charged with," "accused of," "arrested in connection with" — not "committed" — when charges or arrests have not resulted in conviction.
"Pleaded guilty," "convicted," and "case dismissed" are used when the court record supports them precisely.
Disputed facts and unresolved outcomes are labeled as such rather than papered over with a tidy narrative.
What we do not cover
Some subjects are excluded or handled with heightened restraint regardless of virality or public curiosity.
We do not use gore, shock framing, or graphic descriptions — content is kept factual and restrained in tone.
Cases involving minors are handled with particular caution; we do not identify minor subjects even when other outlets have.
Sexual violence matters are treated with sensitivity to survivors; we follow established trauma-informed reporting norms.
Suicide and self-harm stories adhere to safe-messaging guidelines and are excluded when they cannot be framed responsibly.
Matters where the sole available source is an interested party with no corroboration are held until a second source can be confirmed.
Independence and AI-assisted research
AfterTheClip does not accept payment, gifts, or consideration in exchange for publishing, suppressing, or favorably framing any story. Editorial decisions are not for sale.
Automated tools assist source discovery, document summarization, and drafting; they do not create evidence or override the public record.
Every public story must clear documented source, claim-labeling, visual-safety, privacy, and publication checks.
Stories that do not qualify for deterministic publication — including sensitive, uncertain, and exceptional single-source matters — are held for human review.