Primary vs Reported vs Opinion vs Unverified

Key Takeaways

The method	Tag each exhibit primary, reported, opinion, or unverified — and keep the label honest.
Why it matters	Readers deserve to know whether you saw the record or repeated someone else’s summary.
On Gnosis	Evidence Board credibility labels mirror this scale so filters match your editorial judgment.

Investigations fail quietly when every link looks equal. A signed contract, a wire paraphrase, an op-ed, and an anonymous tip are not the same kind of support for a claim. Before you publish — and before you pin cards on an Evidence Board — rate each source on a four-level scale.

Primary

You opened the underlying record: statute, filing, contract, budget line, transcript, raw dataset, or on-the-record interview you conducted. Primary does not mean “true forever”; it means you are not depending on another outlet’s summary of the thing. Quote and link the exhibit. If the file is paywalled or FOIA-only, say so and describe what you saw.

Reported

Another outlet or institution summarized a record or event, and you are relying on their journalism. Use reported sources to find leads and to attribute contested facts you have not yet verified. When the claim is load-bearing, climb to primary. On publication day, a reported-only stack is a warning light, not a finished case.

Opinion

Analysis, advocacy, commentary, or speculation — even when written by experts. Opinion can frame why a claim matters; it should not silently become the proof. Label it. Keep it out of Key Takeaways that pretend to be checkable news.

Unverified

Tips, screenshots without provenance, “people familiar with,” social posts, and documents you cannot authenticate. You may hold unverified material privately while you chase confirmation. You should not publish it as settled support. If you must mention it, mark the uncertainty in the sentence.

When to downgrade

Default rule: downgrade anything you have not opened yourself. A PDF linked in another article is still reported until you download and read it. A “leaked” image is unverified until you can say how you authenticated it. A press release is primary for what the issuer claims — and only that.

Filters on the Evidence Board

Gnosis Premium’s Evidence Board lets you mark credibility so readers (and you) can filter the map. That only helps if labels stay conservative. Inflating everything to primary trains readers to distrust the whole board.

Do this next on Gnosis

Use the source-rating section of the Investigator Starter Kit, then start an investigation on Gnosis. Premium unlocks the full board on Pricing.

Hub: Investigation Methods.

Worked examples

Primary: You download the executed contract from the city’s procurement portal and quote the payment clause. Reported: A local outlet summarizes that contract and you have not opened the PDF. Opinion: A columnist argues the contract proves corruption. Unverified: An anonymous account posts a photo of a signature page with no way to confirm the file.

Same topic, four different strengths. Your Key Takeaways and claim sentence should be carried by primary weight. Reported sources can appear as “according to,” and should trigger a follow-up task to obtain the underlying record. Opinion belongs in analysis sections. Unverified stays out of the public proof stack.

House discipline

On Gnosis News Methods posts and in the product, we prefer conservative labels. Inflating credibility to sound more certain is how newsrooms lose readers. If you are unsure between reported and primary, choose reported until the file is in your hands. If you are unsure between opinion and reported, choose opinion.

Re-rate when new information arrives. A tip that starts unverified can become primary after you obtain matching filings. Update the pin label on the Evidence Board so filters stay honest for future you — and for Premium readers navigating the map.