Editorial Policy

Editorial Policy & Commitment to Accuracy

Armed Forces News | Citizen Investigative Media, LLC
Effective Date: June 2026
Editor & Publisher: Dustin Reed Terry
Contact: dustin@armedforcesnews.com | 352-269-9076
Address: 3921 SW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32608

Mission and Editorial Independence

Armed Forces News is an independent military and defense news publication operated by Citizen Investigative Media, LLC, headquartered in Gainesville, Florida. The publication was built on a foundation originally established by the FedWeek editorial team and relaunched under new ownership in 2026 with a commitment to original, verified, and publicly accountable reporting.

Our editorial decisions are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, political organizations, government agencies, and military branches. No individual or entity outside of Citizen Investigative Media, LLC editorial leadership has authority to influence, delay, alter, or suppress coverage. We do not accept payment for editorial placement.

Our coverage focuses on the people, policies, budgets, and institutions that shape the lives of active duty servicemembers, veterans, military families, and the defense workforce. Because this content directly affects the financial wellbeing, healthcare decisions, and legal rights of those audiences, we treat it with the heightened scrutiny that Google and journalistic ethics organizations classify as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) content.

Editorial Standards and Commitment to Accuracy

Sourcing Requirements

Every factual claim published on Armed Forces News must be traceable to at least one verifiable source. Our hierarchy of acceptable primary sources, from strongest to weakest, is:

Official government documents — Congressional Budget Office reports, Pentagon budget submissions, VA guidance documents, DoD Inspector General findings, Federal Register notices, and court records
Named on-record sources — individuals who agree to be identified by name and title
Verified documentary evidence — FOIA releases, legislative text, published transcripts, and data from .mil or .gov sources
Established wire services and credentialed news organizations — cited with attribution and link
Anonymous sources — used only as a last resort, only when the information is of significant public interest, and only when the source's reason for anonymity is specifically understood and independently assessed as legitimate by the editor

We do not publish anonymous source claims on YMYL topics — including benefit eligibility, healthcare entitlements, pay and compensation, or legal rights — without independent documentary corroboration.

Attribution Standards

Every quote published on Armed Forces News must be attributed to a specifically identified individual — their full name, title, and organizational affiliation where relevant. We do not attribute quotes to vague descriptors such as "a senior official" or "a defense analyst" unless the source's identity has been independently confirmed by the editor, documented in our editorial records, and the reason for anonymity has been assessed as legitimate and in the public interest.

Quote attribution is verified at the pre-publication stage, not post-publication. If a quote is sourced from a third-party publication, that publication is identified in the citation, and the editor independently verifies the quote against the original source before publication whenever possible.

Verification Before Publication

Before any article is published, the following verification steps are completed by the assigning editor:

All named individuals are confirmed to exist, to hold the title stated, and to be affiliated with the organization identified
All statistics, budget figures, and quantitative claims are traced to a primary source document
All quotes attributed to named individuals are cross-checked against original source material, not secondary summaries
All hyperlinks are active and point to the original source, not aggregators or paraphrase articles
Claims that contradict previously published government data are held for additional corroboration before publication

Sensitive YMYL Topics

Armed Forces News regularly covers topics that Google and journalistic ethics frameworks classify as Your Money or Your Life content: VA disability ratings, military pay and allowances, GI Bill benefit eligibility, Tricare healthcare coverage, survivor benefits, DoD budget allocations, and the legal rights of servicemembers under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Errors in these areas can cause direct financial or legal harm to readers who rely on our reporting.

For all YMYL content, we apply an elevated standard: a minimum of two independent primary sources for every material claim, mandatory cross-referencing against official VA, DoD, or Congressional source documents, and editor sign-off before publication. Speculative or analytical content on YMYL topics is clearly labeled as opinion or analysis and is not presented as factual guidance.

Corrections Policy

How We Handle Errors

Errors will happen in any newsroom. How a publication handles them defines its integrity. Our corrections process is transparent, prompt, and on-record.

When an error is identified — whether by a reader, a subject of coverage, a source, or our own staff — the following steps are taken:

Assess within 24 hours. The editor reviews the claimed error against primary source documentation to determine whether it is factual, contextual, or a matter of interpretation.
Correct promptly. If the error is confirmed, the article is corrected immediately. Factual corrections are made directly in the body of the article.
Append a correction notice. A clearly labeled Correction or Editor's Note is appended to the article at the top, stating what was incorrect, what the accurate information is, and the date the correction was made. We do not delete or silently alter articles.
Document internally. The nature of the error, the correction made, and the identity of who identified it are logged in our editorial records.
Notify the affected party. If the error concerned a named individual or organization, we notify them directly when their contact information is available.

How to Submit a Correction

If you believe Armed Forces News has published incorrect information, contact our editor directly:

Email: dustin@armedforcesnews.com
Phone: 352-269-9076
Mail: 3921 SW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32608

Please include the URL of the article, the specific claim in question, and documentation supporting the correction. We take all correction requests seriously and respond within 48 hours.

Real-World Application

Our corrections policy is not theoretical. During the early publication period following the site's 2026 relaunch, a quote in an article on the FY2027 Pentagon budget was misattributed based on an error in a secondary source. Within hours of being contacted by the original source — a policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense — the attribution was corrected and an editor's note appended. That exchange also initiated an ongoing source relationship that strengthens our defense budget coverage. We document these instances not as evidence of failure, but as evidence that our process works.

Fact-Checking Process

Pre-Publication Checklist

Armed Forces News uses a documented pre-publication review process for every article. The checklist includes:

Identity verification — Names, titles, and affiliations confirmed via official organization websites, LinkedIn profiles, or direct contact
Quote sourcing — All quotes traced to original statements, not intermediary summaries
Data sourcing — All figures linked to the primary data source (CBO, OMB, DoD, VA, Congress.gov)
Hyperlink integrity — All outbound links verified as active and pointing to the correct document
Headline accuracy — Headline cross-checked against body content to ensure it does not overstate or misrepresent the article's findings
Subject notification — For investigative or critical coverage of named individuals or organizations, we make a good-faith effort to seek comment before publication and note whether a response was received

Post-Publication Monitoring

Our editorial process does not end at publication. We monitor published articles for reader responses, official replies, and new information that may require updates or corrections. When significant new information emerges on a published story, we update the article and append a dated note indicating the nature of the update.

Policy on AI-Generated and AI-Assisted Content

Our Position

Armed Forces News does not publish AI-generated articles as original reporting. All articles published under our bylines are researched, written, and verified by human editors and journalists. We do not use large language models to produce final article drafts that are published without substantive human review, rewriting, and independent fact verification.

Permitted Uses of AI Tools

We may use AI-assisted tools for limited editorial support functions, including:

Research assistance — identifying publicly available documents, locating background information, and generating initial research frameworks that are then independently verified
Grammar and copy editing review — as one editorial review pass among several, not as a replacement for human editing
Headline and SEO analysis — assessing keyword relevance and search intent alignment
Summarizing large documents — as an internal tool to help editors locate relevant sections, not as a substitute for reading the primary document

Prohibited Uses of AI Tools

We specifically prohibit the following uses of AI tools in our editorial process:

Publishing AI-generated article text without full human rewriting and independent verification
Using AI to generate or extrapolate quotes attributed to named individuals
Using AI-produced summaries as the primary source for factual claims in YMYL content areas
Presenting AI-generated content to readers without disclosure

If AI tools are used in a supporting role in any article and that use materially shaped the content or research process, a disclosure note will be included at the article's close. This standard reflects both our commitment to transparency and the requirements of Google's helpful content guidelines, which treat undisclosed AI-generated content as a quality signal issue for YMYL publications.

Source Protection Policy

Our Commitment to Confidential Sources

Armed Forces News is committed to protecting the identity of confidential sources. Individuals within the military, defense contracting community, government agencies, or veterans' organizations who provide information under an agreement of confidentiality will not be identified without their explicit consent, regardless of external pressure, legal demands, or competitive circumstances.

Conditions for Granting Confidentiality

Confidentiality is granted on a case-by-case basis. Before agreeing to protect a source's identity, our editor assesses:

Whether the source has a legitimate and articulable reason for not being identified
Whether the information provided is of sufficient public interest to justify the use of an anonymous source
Whether the information can be independently corroborated through documentary or on-record evidence
Whether the source has direct, firsthand knowledge of the information, not secondhand knowledge

Confidential source information is stored securely and is not shared with third parties, contractors, or business partners of Armed Forces News or Citizen Investigative Media, LLC.

Whistleblowers and Military Personnel

We recognize that active duty servicemembers, federal defense employees, and veterans who provide information on matters of public concern may face significant professional or legal risk. We take that risk seriously and apply our source protection standards with particular rigor in these cases.

Individuals with concerns about potential violations of military law, federal contracting regulations, veterans' benefit fraud, or defense budget mismanagement are encouraged to contact us confidentially:

Email: dustin@armedforcesnews.com
Phone: 352-269-9076

We will not share your identity.

Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest

Armed Forces News does not permit editorial staff to cover organizations in which they have a financial interest. Staff members who identify a potential conflict of interest in an assignment are required to disclose it to the editor before proceeding. Relevant financial relationships or organizational affiliations of contributing writers are disclosed in author bios.

The publication does not accept sponsored content that is presented as independent editorial reporting. Any paid content partnership is clearly labeled "Sponsored" or "Advertiser Content" and is editorially separated from our news and analysis content. Advertisers have no input into editorial decisions.

Who We Are

Armed Forces News is published by Citizen Investigative Media, LLC, a Florida-based independent media company. The editor and publisher is Dustin Reed Terry, a United States Air Force veteran, investigative journalist, and founder of Citizen Investigative Media. Terry served as an F-117A Nighthawk mechanic during his Air Force service and has contributed investigative journalism to the Huffington Post and other national outlets. He also serves on the board of a national veterans' nonprofit organization.

The publication is accepted in Google News and was recognized as an independent news operation at launch based on its editorial standards, publishing consistency, and original reporting. ArmedForcesNews.com carries institutional backlinks from .mil and .gov domains accumulated during its predecessor publication's 26-year history under FedWeek editorial leadership.

Citizen Investigative Media, LLC
3921 SW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32608
dustin@armedforcesnews.com | 352-269-9076
Accurate. Independent. Accountable.