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+{{htmlmetatags>metatag-keywords=(journalists module 04, working with leaks alongside rti)&metatag-description=(RTI for Journalists — Investigative Filing Course — Module 04: Working with leaks alongside RTI. Cross-validate leaked documents using RTI.)}}
+====== Module 04 — Working with leaks alongside RTI ======
+{{ :social:auto:journalists-module-04.png?direct&1200 |RTI for Journalists — Investigative Filing Course Module 04}}
+<WRAP center round info 95%>
+**Quick Reply:** RTI for Journalists — Investigative Filing Course — Module 04: Working with leaks alongside RTI. Cross-validate leaked documents using RTI.
+</WRAP>
+<WRAP center round info 95%>
+**Goal:** Cross-validate leaked documents using RTI.
+</WRAP>
+===== The legitimacy ladder =====
+Story credibility, ranked:
+  - **Leaked document** alone: low (forgery risk)
+  - **Leaked document + RTI confirming key fact**: medium-high (corroboration)
+  - **RTI alone with citation + serial**: high (legally sourced)
+  - **Court / SIC order**: highest
+The RTI step is what moves a story from 'allegation' to 'reportable'.
+===== Validation patterns =====
+  - **Date validation**: RTI for the official's calendar / register / log on the date the leaked document is dated. If the meeting noted in the leak occurred, RTI shows it.
+  - **Fund-trail validation**: leaked invoice → RTI for the corresponding bank credit / treasury entry. If the payment happened, RTI confirms.
+  - **Signatory validation**: leaked order signed by X → RTI for X's posting / charge during that period.
+  - **Recipient validation**: leak says 'sent to Y dept' → RTI to Y dept for inward letter register entry.
+===== Source protection =====
+  - Never reference the leak in the RTI. Frame as if you stumbled into the question.
+  - Don't ask for the leaked document itself — ask for **the next link in the chain**.
+  - File from a personal address, not the newsroom address.
+  - Don't share the RTI ref no. with the source.
+  - Use IPO + Speed Post (paper trail you control) over online portal (state logs IP).
+===== Pre-publication legal check =====
+Before publishing RTI-sourced data:
+  - Confirm the PIO actually issued it (keep the original reply with stamp + signature).
+  - Don't paraphrase numbers in the headline if the underlying record is partial — quote the PIO's exact figure.
+  - For named individuals, get a comment first; quote the refusal/no-response.
+  - For privileged-source mention, anonymise per Bharucha Committee norms.
+===== Coordinated publication =====
+For state + central + city PIOs replying differently (the 'multi-PIO contradiction' play):
+  - Time the publication to the slowest reply.
+  - Publish all replies side-by-side as a primary asset (not buried in PDF).
+  - Quote each PIO by name + designation (their replies are public).
+  - Submit comment requests simultaneously to all named officers.
+===== ✅ Quiz =====
+Quiz available from your [[:courses:journalists:app|course dashboard]].
+===== Next =====
+  * [[:courses:journalists:start|← Course overview]]
+  * Next: [[:courses:journalists:final]]
+//Last reviewed: 24 April 2026.//
+{{tag>course journalists module-04}}