Editorial Standards

Last updated: April 28, 2026

ATL Free Press publishes two kinds of content: aggregated news headlines from established outlets, and original editorials written under the methodology described below. This page exists so readers know exactly how the work is produced, what role artificial intelligence plays in it, and how we handle mistakes when they happen.

We invite readers to think, rather than tell them what to conclude.

1. Editorial voice and posture

The editorials are written from a consistent editorial posture we describe internally as middle-libertarian: a mix of skepticism toward concentrated power (whether governmental, corporate, or partisan) and a steady commitment to individual rights. The tone aims to be wry rather than cruel, observant rather than scolding, and grounded in the structural and institutional questions underneath the day's news.

We avoid the partisan cadence common in modern opinion writing. We do not refer to "the Left" or "the Right" as monolithic villains. When a politician is named, the criticism is structural and would apply across parties. When a position is criticized, the editorial first states the strongest version of that position fairly before complicating it.

The editorials close on an open question or a well-chosen paradox more often than on a verdict. This is deliberate: a reader who leaves with something to turn over in their head is, we think, better served than one who leaves with a fresh certainty.

2. How editorials are sourced

Each editorial responds to a single, current top news story in one of three sections — US, Global, or Atlanta. The source story is selected automatically from the section's top stories at publication time, drawn from our own news ingest (which pulls from established outlets including CNN, Fox News, 11Alive, FOX 5 Atlanta, and WABE) or from those outlets' RSS feeds when our ingest is empty.

The headline of the source story is what the editorial responds to. The source URL is preserved and shown to readers so they can read the original reporting that prompted the commentary. We do not reproduce paragraphs of source articles in our editorials, and the editorial body is not derived from the source article's text — it is original commentary on the topic the headline raises.

3. How editorials are written

Editorials are produced by a software pipeline that uses a large language model — currently Anthropic's Claude (Haiku 4.5) — to draft the editorial in the voice and under the constraints described above. The model is given the source story's headline and the editorial voice guide as a system prompt. It is not given license to invent quotes, statistics, dates, names, or other specific facts. When the model does not have a specific number or attribution, the prompt instructs it to reach for the structural argument rather than fabricate a figure.

Each editorial is published in three parts: a short headline (5–10 words), a lead sentence (25–40 words) that states the thesis, and a body of roughly 500 words across 4–6 paragraphs. New editorials are generated on a recurring schedule, typically every six hours per section.

4. Use of artificial intelligence — a plain disclosure

We believe in clarity rather than fudging the question. Here is the honest version:

The editorial body text is generated by a language model under the constraints described in Section 3.
The short story snippets and call-to-action labels shown on the homepage are also generated by a language model, drawn from each story's title and source.
The aggregated news headlines and source URLs are not AI-generated — they come directly from the publishers' own RSS feeds or are extracted from their pages.
The editorial methodology, voice guide, sourcing rules, and section structure were defined by a human editor and are reviewed and revised over time as the publication evolves.
No editorial claims to be written by a specific named human author. The byline is "ATL Free Press Editorial."

We do not believe that AI assistance disqualifies writing from being editorial. We do believe that hiding it does. Readers deserve to know what they are reading and how it was made.

5. What we do not do

We do not fabricate quotes, statistics, names, dates, or events. The model is instructed not to invent specifics; if the constraint is broken in practice, the affected editorial is corrected or removed (see Section 7).
We do not impersonate real journalists, columnists, or public figures.
We do not republish substantive portions of other publications' articles. Our editorials respond to a headline; they do not lift body text.
We do not run political advertising disguised as editorial content, and we do not accept payment to publish particular editorial views.
We do not generate content targeting protected classes for harassment, nor content designed primarily to mislead readers about specific factual events.

6. Aggregated news headlines

The story cards on the homepage and section pages link out to articles published by the originating outlet. We do not claim authorship of those headlines or articles. The short snippet shown beneath each card is a brief preview generated from the story's metadata and is intended to help readers decide whether to click through to the original. If you are the publisher of a linked article and would prefer that we not link to your content, contact us at info@atlfreepress.com and we will remove the link.

7. Corrections and removals

If you find a factual error in a published editorial — for example, a fabricated statistic, a misattributed quote, or a verifiably false claim — please email info@atlfreepress.com with the editorial's title or URL and a description of the error. Our correction policy is:

Material factual errors (a false claim that changes the meaning of the editorial): we correct the text in place and add a dated correction note at the top or bottom of the editorial. We do not silently rewrite editorials to hide errors.
Fabricated specifics generated by the model: the editorial is either rewritten to remove the fabricated specific or, if the fabricated specific is central to the piece, the editorial is removed entirely. Removed editorials are recorded so the same mistake is less likely to recur.
Typos and small clarity edits: we may fix these without a separate notation.
Source-publication corrections: if the underlying source article is corrected or retracted by the original publisher, we will note that on any editorial that responded to it.
Voluntary revisions: the editor may revise a published editorial to add context, sharpen a thought, or append an editor's note, even when no factual error is involved — for example, when a reader response or a later development warrants it. Substantive revisions of this kind are marked with a dated note on the editorial.

Our typical response time on correction requests is within two business days.

8. Editorial independence

ATL Free Press displays advertising provided by Google AdSense and its partners. The publication does not accept payment, gifts, or other compensation in exchange for editorial coverage or for particular editorial positions. Advertisers do not see editorials in advance, do not influence which stories are covered, and are not consulted on editorial voice. If we ever begin accepting sponsored content, that content will be clearly labeled as such and will be visually distinguished from editorial content.

9. About this page

This standards page is reviewed and updated as the publication evolves. Material changes are dated at the top. Questions, concerns, or correction requests can be sent to info@atlfreepress.com.

Honest disclosure of our process is part of the editorial product, not a footnote to it. If anything on this page becomes inaccurate, we want to know.