Method

What Spider Report is

Spider Report watches the edges of the public record: the document released quietly, the research finding that raises a better question, the strange event with a factual core, the network hiding in plain sight. We preserve those signals after the news cycle moves on.

Each day a human editor chooses six to eight stories worth noticing. They stay on Today until stronger ones displace them, then move to the Archive, where they remain permanently.

What it is not

Spider Report is an obscurity publication, not a conspiracy publication. We cover strange subjects, from declassified files to unexplained sightings, but nothing is published without a factual hook and a traceable source. We do not treat uncertainty as evidence, and we do not present internet speculation as reporting.

How stories are selected

Found by machines. Chosen by a human. Checked against the record. Automated tools gather candidates from official releases, court and regulatory records, oversight reports, journals, archives and reputable outlets. A human editor selects what runs, weighing factual foundation, how undercovered the story is, genuine novelty, consequence or intellectual interest, source quality and range of subject. Being merely weird is not enough.

Evidence statuses

Every signal carries one status. We do not use numeric truth scores.

VERIFIED: The core claim is independently established by strong evidence.
DOCUMENTED: Supported by an authentic primary document or record, though interpretation may remain open.
REPORTED: Credible reporting exists, but Spider cannot independently establish the full claim.
UNRESOLVED: A documented event or question remains unexplained.
DISPUTED: Material, credible disagreement exists over the underlying claim or its interpretation.
RESOLVED: A previously open question now has a well-supported explanation.
DEBUNKED: Evidence affirmatively undermines the central claim.
CONFIRMED: A previously uncertain central claim later received strong confirmation.

Source hierarchy

We prefer sources in this order, and every story lists primary sources first.

Primary documents and data
Official statements and records
Peer-reviewed research and direct preprints
High-quality independent reporting
Specialist and local reporting
Original social content, when it is itself the event or evidence
Commentary

Several articles repeating the same originating claim are not independent confirmation. An unsourced social post is never corroboration.

How we use AI

AI helps with discovery, grouping duplicate coverage, identifying likely primary sources, summarizing and drafting. It never publishes on its own, and it is never allowed to supply quotes, facts, motives, connections, dates or identities that are not in the record. A human reviews every claim against its source before anything appears here.

Anonymous editorship

Spider Report is independently and anonymously edited. Our identity isn't the story. Our sources are. We do not claim secret access or inside knowledge. Trust has to come from what you can check: linked sources, visible corrections, stated uncertainty and dated update histories.

Corrections and updates

We never silently rewrite history. When a fact is wrong we correct it and say so. When evidence changes, a story's status changes with a dated entry in its update trail. The full record is on the Corrections page.

Political neutrality

Spider Report does not advocate for candidates or parties. Political coverage focuses on the record beneath the surface: filings, audits, executive actions, procurement, oversight, lobbying, unusual legislative provisions, conflicts of interest and institutional changes. Each story separates what the evidence shows from what it might mean.

Rumors and extraordinary claims

Extraordinary claims need more than repetition. We will report that a claim exists when the claim itself is significant, but we will say plainly what is and is not established, label it REPORTED, UNRESOLVED or DISPUTED as the evidence warrants, and update it when the record moves.

Contact

To point us to something we should notice, send a signal.