Methodology & Editorial Disclosure

The reporting, interviews, photography, and research published on this site are conducted by Tom McCartney.

This work often involves long interviews, field notes, transcripts, photographs, research material, and personal observations. As a solo independent journalist and documentary photographer, I use AI-assisted editorial tools to help organize notes, identify themes, summarize research, and draft portions of written stories.

AI is not used as a reporter. It does not conduct interviews, take photographs, verify facts, make editorial decisions, or determine the conclusions of a story.

All interviews are conducted by me. All photographs are my own unless otherwise noted. Original recordings, transcripts, field notes, and source materials are maintained whenever possible.

All quotes are checked against source material. Facts are verified against interviews, documents, published sources, or direct observation. Narrative details, captions, and final text are reviewed and approved by me before publication. Responsibility for the accuracy and fairness of the work rests solely with me.

The purpose of using these tools is not to replace journalism. It is to make independent, human-centered reporting possible at a scale that would otherwise require a larger editorial team. AI allows me to spend more time reporting, interviewing, photographing, researching, fact-checking, and building relationships with the people whose stories appear here.

This approach is broadly consistent with evolving practices adopted by major news organizations, which increasingly permit the use of AI-assisted tools for tasks such as transcription, organization, summarization, and drafting, while maintaining human responsibility for reporting, verification, and editorial judgment.

Every published story remains the result of human reporting, human verification, and human accountability.