bitu reports the news in a deliberate, transparent way. This page explains exactly how our stories are made, because we think you should know.
Where our facts come from. Every bitu story begins with named, verifiable sources — public broadcasters, official releases, regulators, and primary records. We do not draft from anonymous tips or unverified social media. The specific sources behind each story are listed on that story.
How a story is drafted. bitu uses an automated pipeline to help produce articles. Facts are first extracted from the source material into a structured record. The article is then drafted only from that record — not by copying the original reporting. The pipeline checks every figure, date, and claim in the draft back against the verified facts, and flags any wording that stays too close to a source so it can be rewritten in plain language.
We check claims against official sources. Some stories cite official facts — the Reserve Bank's official cash rate, the rate of inflation, set figures like the minimum wage, or whether a particular law is in force. Where a story makes a claim about one of these, our pipeline checks it against the official figure from the source body — the Reserve Bank, Stats NZ, Inland Revenue, or the legislation itself — and flags any claim that is wrong or out of date so it can be corrected before a person reviews the story. This checking is deliberately limited to a defined set of official facts, each tied to its source; it is not a claim that we verify everything in a story, and it sits alongside the human review every story still gets.
A human reviews every story. No article is published automatically. A person reads each one before it goes live, and is responsible for what we publish. The pipeline does the heavy lifting; a human makes the final call.
We name our sources. Every story links to the sources it draws on, inline, right where each fact appears — so you can go and read them yourself. We would rather you check our work than take it on trust.
We correct our mistakes. When we get something wrong, we fix it and say so. Corrections are logged openly rather than quietly changed.
What we are not. bitu reports what happened, who is involved, and what it means — then stops. We do not tell you what to think. Our aim is to give you the facts plainly enough that you can form your own view.
Questions about how we work? Email info@bitu.nz.