At EveningLedger.uk, we believe that the best journalism combines human judgement with the thoughtful application of technology. Our approach to digital tools and automation is grounded in a simple principle: technology assists our team, it does not replace them. This policy explains how we use digital tools to support our work and, crucially, how we guarantee the integrity and accountability of everything we publish.
How Digital Tools Support Our Work
We use a range of digital tools to enhance our editorial process, primarily to streamline routine tasks and free up our journalists to focus on original reporting, analysis and source development. These tools may assist with:
- Research and data processing: Sifting through large datasets, public records or transcripts to identify trends, anomalies or key facts that inform our reporting.
- Editing and formatting: Assisting with grammar checks, style consistency, and the layout of articles for different platforms.
- Headline and summary generation: Generating a range of potential headline options or concise summaries for testing and optimisation by our editors.
- Transcription and translation: Converting audio interviews into text or providing initial drafts of translated material, which are always verified by a fluent human speaker.
- Metadata and tagging: Generating accurate metadata, keywords and tags to help readers find our stories.
- Content review: Scanning for potential factual inconsistencies, missing citations or formatting errors before final review.
The Human Guarantee
The most important commitment in this policy is our human guarantee. Every single piece of editorial content published on EveningLedger.uk — whether a news brief, analysis piece, opinion column or feature — is reviewed by a qualified human editor before it goes live. No article is published on the basis of automated output alone. Our editors, led by Edward Langley and Charlotte Reeves, are responsible for final approval, ensuring accuracy, tone, fairness and compliance with our Editorial Policy.
Strict Prohibitions
Our use of digital tools is governed by red lines that are never crossed. We explicitly prohibit any application of AI or automation that:
- Fabricates anything. AI must never generate quotes, sources, interviews, bylines, author experience, expert profiles, false staff members or credentials. Every quote and source in our reporting comes from real human interaction or verified documentary evidence.
- Creates unverified claims. Any claim or statistic generated or highlighted by an automated tool must be independently verified against primary sources by a journalist before use, in line with our Fact-Checking Policy.
- Produces deceptive media. AI-generated or significantly AI-altered images, audio or video are labelled clearly to distinguish them from original reporting materials. We do not use deepfakes or synthetic media to mislead.
- Generates low-value, mass-produced content. We do not and will not use automation to produce high volumes of low-quality articles designed solely to manipulate search rankings or generate advertising revenue. Every story has a genuine editorial purpose.
Disclosure and Transparency
Where digital tools have played a meaningful role in the preparation of an article, we will include a simple disclosure. Our standard wording is: “This article was prepared with the support of digital editing tools and reviewed by a human editor before publication.” This ensures our readers always know the nature of the work behind the story.
We are committed to being open about our methods. If you have questions about a specific piece of content or our use of technology, please contact our standards lead Oliver Trent via our Contact page.
Ongoing Review
This policy is reviewed regularly to reflect changes in technology and best practice. Our commitment to you, our reader, remains constant: journalism you can trust, produced with integrity, by people who are accountable for their work. For more detail on our overall approach, please read our Editorial Policy, Fact-Checking Policy and information about who we are.