Glossary: Corroboration
Launch library · evergreen read
Corroboration simply means genuine independent confirmation of a claim through a separate, unrelated source rather than simple repetition of the very same original report by someone else. Genuine corroboration adds something new, a different document, a separate account, that would not exist at all if one source were merely copying another's earlier work.
Distinguishing real corroboration from repeated but entirely unoriginal coverage is a core verification skill worth developing carefully, since the sheer volume of a claim's repetition is very often mistaken by a hurried, inattentive reader for the actual strength of its underlying evidence and careful reasoning behind it.
Seeking corroboration deliberately, rather than simply accepting the first confident sounding account encountered, is one of the most consistently reliable habits across nearly every single category of verification covered throughout this library, from images and specific claims through to accounts and independent sources alike, without any real exception at all made.