See the story they want you to accept. Then see the part that does not fit.

How to read a card

Every story below is read the same way, in the same four steps, so two stories can be compared rather than just described.

1. 1

   The lock

   Which phrases locked in across outlets — and who used them first.

2. 2

   What doesn't fit

   The facts that are true, reported, and left out of the main story.

3. 3

   Ask for proof

   The one claim the whole frame rests on, and how thinly it is sourced.

4. 4

   Next turn

   How coverage like this usually shifts — written down before it happens.

The fourth step is the one that can embarrass us, which is why it is kept. Every forecast is graded against what actually happened — including the ones we got wrong.