How We Check Quotes
Word for Word, or It Doesn't Pass.
Every quote on a BanterBox page is the speaker's own words, checked against the recording and linked to the second they said them. The words belong to real people, so we hold ourselves to the standard a good reporter would. Here is how it works.
The Test
A Quote Must Match the Transcript Exactly
Every session is transcribed and timed to the second. Before a quote can appear on a page, our checker looks for it in that transcript as one unbroken run of the speaker's words. A changed word, an added word, a dropped word or words in a different order, and the quote fails.
The checker forgives only the conventions of writing speech down: capital letters and punctuation, how a number is written, British or American spelling, accents on names, and the "um" and "uh" of live talk.
What was said
"We will not raise taxes this year, and we've said so."
Quote checked
"We will not raise taxes this year."
Passes
Quote checked
"We will not raise taxes this year."
Fails: "not" was dropped
An illustration, not a real speaker.
Every Check
What Happens to Every Quote
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Found Word for Word
The quote is located in the transcript as one unbroken run of the speaker's words. If it isn't there, it stays off the published page until a person corrects it from the transcript or confirms it against the recording.
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Locked to the Second
Its link and its "Watch at" time are set to the second the words begin, so a reader lands on the moment, not the start of the session.
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Credited to the Right Person
A quote that runs across a change of speaker, or is credited to someone other than the person the transcript names, is flagged for your editors.
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Doubtful Words Get a Listen
Where the transcription was unsure of a word, the quote carries a note and a play link, so an editor can listen before it is published.
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Translations Checked Twice
A quote in another language is found word for word in the original. Then the English is compared with the original for meaning and figures, and it is labeled as a translation.
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The Writing Around It, Too
Theme titles, summaries and takeaways can be checked against the transcript at your editors' request. A claim the record doesn't support is flagged.
People Decide
Shortened in the Open. Reviewed by Your Editors.
Spoken sentences run long. An editor may shorten a quote with an ellipsis, or add a word in brackets so it reads clearly on its own. Both marks show on the page, the words the speaker said are still checked one by one, and the transcript itself is never altered. If your editors reword a quote, it is marked as edited and is no longer presented as word for word.
Machines are good at proving the words were said. People are better at judging whether a line is fair to the speaker in context. So every page goes to your editors for review, and where you choose, nothing is published until you approve it.
And because every quote links to its moment, no reader has to take our word for it. They can press play and hear it for themselves.
See It on a Real Page
The Atlantic Council's Global Energy Forum 2026 synthesis carries nearly a hundred checked quotes, each linked to the second it was spoken.