Standards

Accuracy first. Every factual claim traces to a named source, a document, or a dataset. We link to primary sources directly rather than to someone else's summary of them.

We contact people before we criticize them. Anyone facing criticism in a story gets a real chance to respond before publication. If they decline, the story says so.

We label opinion. Analysis and argument run under an Opinion tag. News does not carry our views.

We disclose conflicts. No writer covers an organization they hold office in, work for, or have applied to, without disclosure. We do not cover our funders, because we have none.

We do not run press releases as news.

We do not use AI to generate reporting, quotes, or facts. Tools for spelling and grammar are fine. Anything presented as reported work was reported by a person.

Anonymous sources are rare and approved in advance. When we grant anonymity we explain in the story why it was necessary.

We correct in public. See corrections.