Original F-117A explanatory reporting guide. It does not rate any real person's statements. Primary-source websites listed below are research starting points; no fictional claim is presented as a finding.
Government agencies sometimes revise previously published estimates as additional information arrives or measurement methods improve. A good evidence review records the version of a series available when a statement was made and the revised evidence available today.
01 A snapshot is not the entire history
A preliminary estimate can later move. This is especially relevant to economic reporting, which often depends on surveys, administrative files and later benchmarking. A report about what an official claimed on a particular date should not silently substitute a later estimate for the number that was publicly available then.
02 Record the data vintage
The source record should carry the publisher, dataset identifier, release date, retrieval date, geographic population, units and revision status. A chart drawn from two incompatible releases can introduce its own error even if each individual observation came from a reputable source.
03 How to publish a fair update
- Show the number as first published, with a dated source.
- Show the revision and explain its date and origin.
- Re-run comparisons using consistent series vintages where possible.
- Explain whether the change alters the actual original claim or only our present-day interpretation.
Sources & Further Reading
These are attributable primary-reference destinations and related F-117A methodology pages. This field guide makes no fact-check determination about an individual.
Challenge the evidence, not the person.
The standard is reproducibility. Corrections and responses will be documented under the F-117A corrections policy.