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The Percentage Is Correct. Is the Claim?
The subtraction is right and the sentence is still wrong. How to check the denominator, comparison, period and verb before a correct percentage becomes a misleading claim.
4 min read
Read the Footnote Before You Use the Number
A chart says 84 percent resolved; the eight-point note says priority cases only, with exclusions. How to read outward from the cell before an accurate number becomes a broad false claim.
4 min read
Same Metric, Different Scope: When Two Facts Cannot Replace Each Other
The deck says 180 locations, the quote says 120, and both can be right. Write each figure out in full, then replace, keep both or escalate to the fact owner.
8 min read
Comparing Half-Year and Full-Year Results in a Media Response
A first-half figure divided by last year’s total is arithmetic that answers nobody’s question. Compare like halves, write out the months and send finance one question they can resolve.
7 min read
A Better Review for “First,” “Leading” and “Only”
"The first platform of its kind," and nobody can say first where, for whom or as of when. How to review the comparison inside a superlative before softening the adjective.
4 min read
Separate Launch News From Marketing Promises
The headline promised a platform; what shipped was one feature. How to sort a launch brief into change, capability, outcome and ambition, and word each to the evidence behind it.
5 min read
Fact-Check a Long Bylined Article Without Losing the Argument
The statistic was fixed; the conclusion built on it was not. How to map a byline's argument, check each claim in context and follow every correction into the reasoning that depended on it.
5 min readOther topics
- Quotes and executive voiceWriting quotes and bylines that sound like the person named, say something worth printing and keep the facts inside an opinion checkable.
- Approvals and handoffsWho signs off a public statement, how to make that approval specific to the words that go out, and how work moves between people without losing it.
- Company knowledge and evidenceKeeping the facts a team relies on current, dated and traceable to their source, so the next release starts from what is true now.
- Media relations and issuesAnswering journalists accurately and on time, from the first request to a holding statement and, when it comes to it, a correction.
- AI tools for PRWhat AI writing tools do and do not do for PR work, how they compare, and how to run a fair trial of one on your own material.