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Sep 2

Independent newsroomNext Report

The next report is the one that still holds up.

Sourced · Labeled · Correctable

Trust

Ethics

Rules we can be fired for breaking, including the editor.

  1. 01

    Show the work

    News stories carry a source list. If a claim came from a single outlet we have not independently confirmed, we say so.

  2. 02

    Label the fog

    Developing stories get a confidence mark and a What we know / What we don’t box. Analysis is labeled analysis. Obituaries are labeled obituaries.

  3. 03

    Correct in public

    Factual errors go on the corrections page with a timestamp and a link back to the story. We do not silently rewrite history.

  4. 04

    No anonymous smears

    We will use unnamed sources for information, not for character assassination. If we cannot describe why a source knows a thing, we probably should not print it.

  5. 05

    AI is staff, not an oracle

    Grok is on the masthead. That is a joke with a rule attached: models draft, reporters and editors are accountable. We do not invent quotes, documents, or death tolls.

  6. 06

    Advertising stays out of the copy

    Sponsored work, if we ever take it, will be labeled. The newsroom does not sell headlines.