A careful reader notices when a claim becomes stronger each time it is repeated.

Claims tend to gain confidence as they travel. A cautious finding becomes a suggestion, then a fact, then a headline, with each retelling dropping the qualifiers that the previous one thought were fussy. Nobody has to be dishonest for this to happen; the hedges are simply the least interesting part to carry. By the time it reaches you, the certainty may belong entirely to the chain rather than to the evidence.

When something is stated very confidently this week, try to find where it first came from. Compare how it was originally put with how you heard it.