Persona Guide — Journalism & Media

AI Chrome extension for journalists & fact-checkers: interrogate claims on deadline.

Audit press releases for spin, cross-check statistical claims in studies, and parse court filings or legislation on deadline with your custom shortcut (default: Ctrl+Shift+X).

Best fit

Best for investigative reporters, beat journalists, editors, and fact-checkers reviewing primary filings, studies, and press releases.

On-screen walkthrough

How this looks on a real webpage.

Instead of switching tabs and rebuilding context, highlight the exact passage that slowed you down and press your shortcut (default: Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X on macOS, fully customizable in settings).

prnewswire.com/news-releases/example-broadband
Context: Basic
1. Highlighted on page (Corporate Press Release — Municipal Broadband & Pricing Announcement)
Over the past 24 months, our NextGen Fiber initiative has expanded high-speed eligibility to up to 450,000 additional households across the state, while reducing average promotional cost per megabit by 38% compared to legacy 2021 copper tiers.
Ctrl+Shift+X“Fact-check this press release sentence: what weasel words or baseline tricks should a reporter ask the PR team to clarify?”
2. Vezz me on-screen answer overlay

**3 Sharp Questions to Ask the Spokesperson**:

1. **'Up to 450,000' + 'Eligibility' vs Actual Subscribers**: 'Eligibility' usually counts census blocks passed by a trunk line, not connected homes. *Ask: How many households are active paying subscribers today?*

2. **'Promotional cost per megabit' vs Monthly Bill**: If a customer's monthly bill rose from $50 (100 Mbps) to $80 (300 Mbps), *cost per megabit* dropped 47% even though **households are paying $30/month more**—and 'promotional' ignores post-12-month rate hikes.

3. **2021 Copper Baseline**: Comparing 2026 promo fiber to 2021 copper is an apples-to-oranges baseline.

3. Suggested follow-up questions in thread
  • “Draft a concise email to the company's comms director asking for the unbundled subscriber and ARPU numbers.”
  • “Check the rest of this release for passive voice hiding rate increases.”
Step-by-step workflow

How to run this workflow in place.

1

Import the Assumption & Bias Auditor and Corporate Jargon Detox presets

Download both JSON presets from our Prompt Library so you can interrogate claims with a single click.

2

Highlight statistical claims, quotes, or legal filings

Select the passage in a press release, academic preprint, court opinion, or regulatory docket.

3

Generate concrete follow-up questions for sources

Press your shortcut and ask what denominator, baseline, or subgroup is omitted from the claim.

Key details

Why this approach works better than switching tabs.

Spot denominator tricks, relative-risk hype, and PR euphemisms
Public relations teams and advocacy groups rarely lie outright with numbers—instead, they switch denominators, use promotional baselines, or report relative risk without absolute risk.
  • Flags 'cost per unit' vs 'actual monthly bill' sleight of hand in corporate announcements
  • Audits scientific preprints on PubMed and arXiv for small sample sizes, observational confounding, and $p$-hacking before you report on a study
  • Protects investigative privacy: `activeTab`-only means Vezz me never logs or accesses your browsing history across sensitive dockets
Comparison Matrix

Source Vetting on Deadline

Comparing targeted claim auditing with raw deadline skimming.

TaskWith Vezz me (Selected Passage)Reading Raw Release on Deadline
Spot 'cost per megabit' vs 'total bill' spinFlagged immediately with concrete spokesperson questionsEasy to accidentally repeat the headline percentage
Parse 60-page court ruling or SEC 8-KExtracts exact holding & dollar exposure in 10 seconds20+ minutes of skimming legal boilerplate
Investigative Browsing PrivacyZero background URL access (activeTab only)Risky if using <all_urls> browser extensions
Frequently asked questions

Common questions about persona guide — journalism & media.

Does Vezz me invent outside facts or stick to analyzing the highlighted text?

When you use our Assumption & Bias Auditor or Corporate Jargon Detox presets, Vezz me focuses on auditing the logic, grammar, baselines, and omissions within the text you highlighted so you know exactly what to verify with primary sources.

Can it help me read scientific studies on PubMed and arXiv without overhyping them?

Yes! Use our Statistical Methods Interpreter preset to check sample size, observational confounding, and absolute vs relative effect sizes before writing a science or health story.

Does it work on CourtListener, PACER HTML, and Congress.gov?

Yes—any HTML court filing, bill text, or regulatory notice works seamlessly.

Related workflows & guides

Explore connected pages.

Available for Chrome and Firefox

Ready to try this workflow on your own reading?

Install Vezz me free, highlight text on any webpage, and press your customizable shortcut (default: Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac) to get an answer right beside the source.