The NoCo Herald

Ethical AI

The NoCo Herald's articles are written by artificial intelligence. We believe that comes with an obligation to be completely transparent about how we work, where our information comes from, and what AI can and cannot do well. This page explains our standards.

We use first-party sources only

Every Herald article is built from primary, first-party sources — the original record itself. That includes:

  • Government and agency press releases and official statements
  • City council and county commission meeting videos, agendas, and minutes
  • Public records, filings, budgets, and official data
  • Other original material published directly by the people or institutions involved

We link to these sources on each story so you can verify what we report against the original.

We do not source from other news outlets

We never base our reporting on articles published by other news organizations. We do not aggregate, summarize, paraphrase, or rewrite other outlets' journalism. If a fact only exists because a reporter at another publication uncovered it, it is their work — not ours to repackage.

This is a deliberate line. Original local journalism is valuable and increasingly scarce, and we have no interest in competing with it or diluting it. The Herald is designed to complement real journalism, not replace it — covering the routine civic ground that thinning newsrooms can no longer reach, and sending readers back to the primary sources every time.

Accuracy and its limits

AI-generated writing can contain errors: it can misread a document, misstate a number, or miss context that a human would catch. We work to minimize this by constraining our system to primary sources and by citing those sources openly, but we cannot promise perfection. Treat our articles as a starting point, and consult the linked sources for anything that matters to you.

Corrections

If you find an error, please tell us at [email protected]. We review reported errors promptly and correct or update stories as needed.

What we don't do

We don't fabricate quotes, invent sources, or present opinion as fact. We don't use AI to impersonate real people or to generate misleading imagery. Our goal is a faithful, verifiable account of the public record.