Source trust tiers

Three tiers

Every source we ingest is classified into one of three tiers. The badge appears next to every byline so readers can weigh what they’re reading.

Tier 1 — Official

Tours (PPA, MLP, APP, PPL), governing bodies (USA Pickleball, IPF), and team official channels. Treated as primary; a single tier-1 corroboration is enough for most factual claims.

Tier 2 — Reported

Established pickleball publications and journalists with a track record (The Dink, Pickleball.com, etc.). We need at least one tier-1 source or two tier-2 sources to publish a fact-sensitive story like a player movement or a contract.

Tier 3 — Signal

Social media, forums, and rumor channels. Useful for spotting stories early, but we do not publish based on tier-3 alone. If a story’s only sourcing is tier-3, an “unverified” banner appears above it.