Editorial policy

Sourcing

Claims of fact are attributed. Where a primary document exists — a filing, a changelog, a court record, a peer-reviewed paper, a transcript — we read it and link to it rather than relying on someone else's summary. When we cannot verify something independently, we say who is asserting it and what their interest is.

Anonymity is granted when a person faces a real risk from being named and their information is material. We tell readers why anonymity was granted and what the source is in a position to know.

Accuracy and corrections

Every article is read by someone other than its author before publication. When we get something wrong, we fix it on the page and add a dated correction note describing what changed. Substantive corrections are never made silently. Typographical fixes and clarified phrasing that do not change meaning are made without a note.

Separating reporting, analysis and opinion

Reporting establishes what happened. Analysis explains what it likely means and is labelled as such. Opinion argues a position and carries its author's name prominently. We do not blend the three inside one unlabelled piece.

Conflicts of interest

Writers disclose to editors any holding, employment history, personal relationship or paid engagement that touches a story before they take it. Where a conflict cannot be managed, the assignment moves. Relevant conflicts that remain are disclosed in the article itself.

Advertising and commercial content

Advertising is bought against the site, not against stories, and never influences whether or when we publish. Sponsored material, if we ever run it, is visually distinct and labelled at the top; it is written by the sponsor, not by our newsroom, and is excluded from editorial indexes.

Use of AI tools

Reporting, judgement and final wording are human work. We may use software to transcribe interviews, search large document sets or check spelling and consistency. We do not publish machine-generated text as reporting, and a named human author is accountable for every article on this site.

Privacy in reporting

Private individuals who are not public figures get more protection than institutions. We weigh public interest against foreseeable harm before naming someone, and we do not republish leaked personal data — addresses, medical records, private messages of non-public people — merely because it is available.

Right of reply

Anyone facing significant criticism in a story is contacted before publication with enough detail to respond, and given a reasonable deadline. If they decline or do not reply, we say so.