---

name: screen-adverse-media description: Screen a person or organisation for adverse media coverage, PEP status, and sanctions exposure — corroboration-gated, returns "review" never "guilty". Use when the user asks to screen someone before onboarding, partnership, or investment; for AML/CTF flows; or for ongoing counterparty monitoring. category: document-verification risk: critical source: community source_repo: Sketchjar/stipple-agent-skills source_type: community date_added: "2026-08-31" author: Sketchjar tags: [document-verification, fact-checking, stipple, authenticity] tools: [claude, cursor, gemini, codex] license: "Apache-2.0" license_source: "https://github.com/Sketchjar/stipple-agent-skills/blob/main/LICENSE"

Screen Adverse Media

Screen a person or organisation for adverse media coverage, PEP (Politically Exposed Person) status, and sanctions exposure. Every hit is corroboration-gated: the screen returns "review", never "guilty", and "nothing found" is never a clean record. Uses the Stipple API (free anonymous tier).

When to use

• AML/CTF onboarding (Tranche 2 reforms make this mandatory for more Australian businesses)
• Vendor/supplier due diligence before signing
• Investor or LP vetting
• Ongoing counterparty monitoring (re-run periodically, compare warrant IDs)

Instructions

1. Get the target. Name of the person or organisation. For document-based screening, a PDF/image of their ID or company extract can also be submitted.

2. Run the screen.

   Name-based (via MCP — the REST intake is document-based):

   # Via any MCP client pointed at https://www.stipple.sh/mcp:
   # tool: screen_adverse_media
   # args: {"name": "John Citizen", "entity_type": "person"}
   

   Document-based (REST — screens the person/org named in the uploaded document):

   curl -X POST https://www.stipple.sh/v1/adverse-media \
     -F "file=@company-extract.pdf" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $STIPPLE_API_KEY"
   

3. Interpret the response.

   • rating — the overall screening result ("review", "clear", etc.)
   • hits[] — adverse media articles: date, title, source, URL, summary
   • pep[] — PEP signals (empty = none found)
   • sanctions[] — sanctions list signals (empty = none found)

4. Report with the right framing. Non-negotiable framing rules:

   Finding	Correct framing
   Hits found	"Review recommended — see articles below" (never "guilty")
   Nothing found	"No corroborated adverse media found — this is NOT a clean record; coverage is bounded by the source list"
   PEP signal	"PEP status identified — enhanced due diligence may apply"

5. Contextualize. Every hit is corroborated across sources before inclusion — but the screen is the start of human review, not the end of it. Date-range and source-coverage limitations are real.

Output format

screening rating: review

adverse media hits:
  - [2025-11-02] Court action over unpaid supplier debts
      source: The Age  https://...
  - [2024-06-18] ASIC disqualification
      source: ASIC media releases  https://...

PEP signals: 0
sanctions list signals: 0

This screen returns "review", never "guilty" — every hit is corroboration-gated.

Limitations and Safety

• Screening processes personal data and potentially damaging allegations through a hosted third party. Confirm a lawful purpose, obtain any required approval, send only the minimum identifiers needed, and verify current retention, residency, access, and deletion terms before transmission.
• Name matches, PEP signals, sanctions hits, and media reports can be incomplete, stale, misattributed, or false. Corroborate every consequential result with the original source and authoritative registers; never publish an allegation as fact.
• This is not a legal AML/CTF determination. A qualified human reviewer must resolve identity ambiguity, document the reasoning, and provide an appropriate correction or appeal path before rejecting or restricting a person or organization.

Notes

• Costs 3 credits per screen; free weekly allowance applies
• For AML flows, pair with check-identity-pack (identity) and verify-document (document genuineness)
• "Nothing found" ≠ "clean record" — always state this in reports
• Free key at https://www.stipple.sh for metering beyond the anonymous allowance