Of 634 Candidate Chains, 319 Ran First in Arabic and 83 Reached English Next
A chain follows one claim from the first outlet where MEF’s monitors find it to the other outlets and languages that pick it up; 107 of the 634 candidate chains here reach English. It shows where a story met in English began, and how it changed on the way.
Found in 27,118 items read Sept. 15 to Oct. 17; none is published until a fluent reader checks every step. How to read one chain
First language, then the next Candidates, unreviewed
Bands are candidate chains, sized by how many: language of the first located appearance (left), next different language reached (right). Same-language steps are skipped: Arabic 187 means chains that reached Arabic from another language. 83 reached English next; 107 at some step. Other: Urdu, Russian and Azerbaijani (1 chain moved between two of these). Chart: MEF.
How to Read One Chain
Diagram, not a real chain. No chain has passed fluent review yet, so the steps sit at the median lags of the 319 candidate chains first located in Arabic: a Persian outlet carried the claim in 129 of them, after a median 4 h; an English outlet in 77, after a median 6.9 h. The first reviewed chain will replace this diagram as the worked example. Candidates, unreviewed. Chart: MEF.
Step 1 is the first located appearance. The earliest copy of the claim in the outlets MEF monitors, dated by the outlet’s own timestamp. It is where MEF first finds the claim, not proof of who wrote it first.
Each later step is the same claim in another outlet, placed by hours after step 1, with its original-language headline linked to the source and archived.
Change notes are mechanical. They mark language, outlet, lag and figures one text has that another lacks. They do not judge accuracy or motive.
Before Any Chain Is Published
A fluent reader checks each step in its own language
Each step is archived; other platforms are searched
Outlets outside state media are asked for comment
An editor signs off
Chains naming US candidates wait until after November 4, 2026
No publication date is set: each chain goes up once its own review clears. Publication standard
What the Engine Searches
MEF’s press monitors and English-language feeds read 108 outlets in 8 languages; every item they capture is a possible step in a chain. The calendar shows how many items each language added per day.
Photo: Pedal to the Stock/Shutterstock
Items per daynone1 to 122123 to 244245 to 367368 to 489
Items read per day by the MEF press monitors and English-language feeds, all 8 languages; the outlined column is the busiest day. Not drawn as rows, single monitor runs: Azerbaijani 114 items on Sep 24, Urdu 87 items on Sep 24 and Russian 57 items on Sep 24. 214 earlier English feed items, before Sep 15, are searched but not charted. Chart: MEF.
How the Totals Add Up
Part of the capture
Items
5 languages drawn as rows
26,860
Single runs, footnoted (3)
258
Read in the 33 charted days
27,118
Earlier feed items, before Sep 15, not charted
214
MEF monitors 108 outlets in 8 languages; 27,118 items fall in the 33 charted days. Sources searched
