A statistics page on Tricity Local News collects the current, sourced figures on one subject in AI, cloud, data, hosting or enterprise IT. The method below is the same for every page.
Scope
The page starts with a written definition of the subject: what is being counted, in which markets, over which period, and which neighboring subjects are excluded. A page about cloud spending, for example, says whether it covers infrastructure only or software too, and whether the figures are global or US. The definition governs which sources qualify.
Source ranking
Sources are used in rank order, highest first: the organization that produced the data (regulators, statistics offices, standards bodies, company filings, named surveys with a published method); peer-reviewed studies and open datasets; independent industry surveys that state sample, dates and sponsor; and named outlets that cite one of those. Paid market-research summaries are excluded, because their figures cannot be traced to a method a reader can inspect. Vendor figures appear only as the vendor’s own claim.
Capture
For each figure the writer records four things: the source URL, the exact passage, the data date and the retrieval date. A figure that cannot be captured this way does not appear. The captures stay with the page, and every later review starts from them.
Reconciliation
Different sources often give different figures for what looks like one quantity. The page does not pick a winner, and it does not average them. It states each figure with its source, and explains the difference in definition, base year, region or sample that accounts for the gap. Where the gap cannot be explained, the page says so.
Derived figures
A growth rate, a share or a per-unit figure calculated by the newsroom from source numbers is labeled as a calculation, shows the inputs, and names the sources of those inputs. Rounding follows the precision of the least precise input.
Forecasts
A projection is presented as a forecast with its horizon and the firm that made it. Forecasts from different firms are not averaged. A forecast is never combined with a measured figure to produce a growth rate.
Structure
The page opens with the single most useful figure. Key figures follow in a short list. Each section covers one narrow aspect, opens with its main figure and source, and keeps its paragraphs short. Tables compare like with like and name the source of every row. Charts carry the same data as a table on the page.
Review
A second editor checks every figure against its capture, the scope against the source, and the labeling of forecasts and vendor claims. The reviewer signs off by name and both names appear on the page. The Fact-Check Policy has the detail.
Refresh
A page is revisited when a cited source publishes new data and at least once every twelve months. Changed figures carry the new source and date; the page’s shown date is the date of the last review that changed content. Errors found between reviews follow the Corrections Policy.
Limits
A statistics page reports what the sources measured. It does not estimate figures no source has published, and does not extend a trend beyond the data.
