“Breaking News: State Releases Findings in 2023 Fatal Police Shooting at Cannabis Dispensary”

Headline as Martinez News and Views wrote it

The full fact check2 outlets · Grade B

Grade B · score 70/100

The best-sourced telling, by Martinez News and Views, links one public document and names five people or agencies on the record; one other outlet told it too.

Checked Tue Sep 29, 8:52 PM · 2 of 2 pages read

Sources checked

No independent confirmation found yet.

The reporting

record check

Not in the Wire's records, so not checked.
As Martinez News and Views wrote it: “Following an investigation that lasted more than three years, the state Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that “there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution” of the Martinez police officers who shot and killed 20-year-old Tahmon Wilson of Oakland when they responded to burglary call at the Velvet cannabis dispensary on Sunrise Drive in the early morning hours of Aug. 18, 2023.”
Not in the Wire's records, so not checked.
As Martinez News and Views wrote it: “The shooting occurred on August 18, 2023, after officers responded to an attempted break-in at the Velvet cannabis dispensary on Sunrise Drive in Martinez.”

coverage2 outlets

1 newsroom1 blog

Martinez News and Views

Blog · Craig Lazzeretti · Tue Sep 29, 5:08 PM

Source grade B70/100

“Breaking News: State Releases Findings in 2023 Fatal Police Shooting at Cannabis Dispensary”

1 document linked12 quotes10 of 15 paragraphs say where facts came fromoag.ca.gov

Read the full story at Martinez News and Views

How this was graded31.7 + 8 + 10 + 7 = 56.7 of 80 → 70/100 · Grade B

31.7: Sourcing · of 45
8: Corroboration · of 15
10: Headline · of 10
7: Transparency · of 10

Left out: Record match (nothing of that kind to count).

Claycord

News report · CLAYCORD.com · Tue Sep 29, 5:04 PM

Source grade D45/100

“DOJ Finds Insufficient Evidence To Charge Martinez Officers In Fatal 2023 Shooting”

0 documents linked0 quotes1 of 2 paragraphs say where facts came from

Read the full story at Claycord

How this was graded12.5 + 8 + 10 + 6 = 36.5 of 80 → 45/100 · Grade D

12.5: Sourcing · of 45
8: Corroboration · of 15
10: Headline · of 10
6: Transparency · of 10

Left out: Record match (nothing of that kind to count).

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How the grading works

The short version

The Wire grades each article from what the page itself shows: whether its facts say where they came from, the public documents it links, the other outlets and sources that confirm the same story, whether its facts match the Wire's own public records, a calm headline, and a clear byline and date. The story takes its best-sourced telling's grade. The grade describes the page, never the people in it.

The formulaGrade = 100 × points ÷ possibleA 85 · B 70 · C 55 · D 40

Grade = 100 × points ÷ possibleeach article · 0 to 100

Story = its best tellingA 85 · B 70 · C 55 · D 40 · F below 40

45: Sourcing · 25 for the share of facts that say where they came from, 0, 7 or 12 for none, one or two or more public documents linked, 0 to 8 for the people and agencies named on the record
15: Corroboration · 8 or 12 for one or two or more other outlets or sources confirming it, 3 more when one is official; 8 for a telling alone that links two or more documents
20: Record match · 20 × the key facts confirmed or matching the Wire's records ÷ the facts checked; left out when none could be checked
10: Headline · less for a question, capitals, an exclamation mark, a teaser or heated words
10: Transparency · a byline, a date, an update or correction note, the outlet's identity, the kind labelled

This story's arithmetictwo articles graded

Outlet	S	C	R	H	T	Score
Martinez News and Views	31.7	8	–	10	7	70
Claycord	12.5	8	–	10	6	45

31.7 + 8 + 10 + 7 = 56.7 of 80 → 70/100 · Grade B

S sourcing · C corroboration · R record match · H headline · T transparency. A dash is a part left out.

How it is checked6 rules

Every input is read by rules from the page itself; the arithmetic is shown for every article.
An article that names no source, links no document and names no one on the record says "No sources cited", and its grade is at most D.
Where the Wire's own records hold the fact (a vote, a meeting, an amount, a call, a listing), the story and the record are set side by side; a vote the record tells differently holds the grade at most at D.
An agency's own release is the record itself and is not graded; an outlet that prints it as its story counts once.
Each story's key facts are checked for independent confirmation: first by rules against the Wire's records and the agencies' own releases, then each morning by research. A confirmation counts only when the Wire read the source's page itself and found the sentence on it; a government page, a public record or another newsroom's own reporting, never a copy of the story or a social post. A source that tells a fact differently is shown beside the story.
A page the Wire cannot read is never guessed at: it shows only its own headline, quoted, and is not graded.

Sources2 records

BlogTue Sep 29Martinez News and ViewsRead
News reportTue Sep 29ClaycordRead

“Breaking News: State Releases Findings in 2023 Fatal Police Shooting at Cannabis Dispensary”

>record check▌

>coverage▌2 outlets

record check

coverage2 outlets