How this publication works
Editorial Standards
Standards are worth nothing if readers cannot check them. This page sets out in plain language where our reporting comes from, what we do before a story runs, how we label argument, and how we correct the record when we get something wrong.
Where a story comes from
Sourcing is the part of reporting readers almost never see. These are the source types we rely on, in the order we prefer them, and what each one is actually good for when we weigh a claim.
On the record
Named people who can be quoted
Officials, analysts, executives and researchers speaking under their own names. We record the conversation, keep the notes, and check any figure or date quoted here against a second document before it goes into the copy.
Documents
Filings, transcripts, cables and data
We prefer a paper trail to a paraphrase. Where a document is central to a story, we describe what it is and how we obtained it, and we quote from it rather than summarising a summary of it.
Expert read
Specialists who test our interpretation
For technical, legal and market questions we ask someone outside the story to read the working draft. Their job is to find the sentence we have overreached on, not to endorse the conclusion.
Off the record
Anonymous sources, used sparingly
Only when the information cannot be obtained any other way, and only with approval from an editor. The reader is always told why a source is unnamed and how close that source sits to the facts.
What we check before a story runs
Every piece passes the same gate. It is not a ceremony; it is the part of the work where a confident sentence either survives or gets cut.
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Key claims
Each factual assertion is mapped to the source that carries it. Anything with a single flimsy origin is either attributed as a claim, softened, or dropped.
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Numbers and dates
A second reader re-does the arithmetic, checks units and currencies, and confirms time zones and calendar dates, because most quiet errors live in the numbers, not the prose.
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Fairness read
Anyone criticised in a story is given a fair and specific chance to respond before publication. Their reply, or the fact that they declined, belongs in the copy.
Where reporting ends and opinion begins
Readers should never have to guess which part of a page is the record and which part is our reading of it. These are the labels we use, and what each one promises.
Report
A news story. We witnessed it, or we have verified it against sources and documents, and the piece stays as close to what happened as the evidence allows. Analysis, if any, is clearly marked as such inside the text.
Analysis
The facts are on the page, and so is the interpretation of them. We name the author's judgement as judgement rather than letting a conclusion wear the clothes of a fact.
Opinion
An argument, signed by its author. Opinion pieces may draw on our reporting, but they are not held to the same standard of neutrality, and they never appear under the label of a news story.
Live update
A developing event, reported as it moves. Early entries carry the time they were filed and are revised in place as reporting catches up with the situation.
How we correct the record
A correction is a piece of reporting about our own work. When we get a fact wrong — a name, a figure, a date, a sequence of events — we fix the sentence and then say plainly, at the foot of the piece, what changed and when. We do not quietly edit a story and hope nobody screenshotted it.
Where a story's central claim collapses rather than merely wobbles, we say so in the same place and explain what the reporting actually supports. If an error came from a source who misled us, we say that too. The point of the note is to let a reader reconstruct what we knew, and when.
Clarifications handle language that was accurate but easy to misread, and they are marked as clarifications rather than repairs. Anything more serious than a typo gets a note a reader can find without hunting.
Recent corrections and clarifications
Clarification
A shipping figure in an energy story was correct but compared two different reporting periods. The piece now names both periods where the number appears.
Correction
A cabinet official's title was wrong in a politics report. The title was corrected in the copy and a dated note was added below the story.
Update
A developing security story was revised as new detail arrived. Each revision carries the time it was made so the sequence of reporting stays visible.
Quotation, attribution and borrowed material
Quotes are not decoration. A direct quotation is the speaker's own words, checked against a recording or a written transcript. Where we translate from another language, the published translation is ours, and the original wording is available on request.
Paraphrase is allowed to compress a long conversation, but it cannot sharpen a point the speaker was careful not to make. If a source would not sign off on the wording, we use their wording instead of ours.
Where another outlet broke a story first, we credit it by name and link to it, and we add independent reporting rather than restating its work. Wire copy is labelled as wire copy. Photographs, charts and translated passages carry their source and rights holder in the caption.
If we cannot credit something properly, we do not use it. Complaints about attribution or reuse are treated as priority correspondence and answered by an editor.
Independence from pressure and money
Advertisers do not see stories before publication, and they do not get to remove them afterwards. Commercial teams cannot promise coverage, and editorial staff cannot accept a gift, a trip or a favour that would be awkward to disclose in the copy.
Where a funder, partner or sponsor has any relationship to a subject we cover, the link is named in the story. Sponsored material is marked as sponsored at the top of the page, not in the small print.
Political and legal pressure is handled the same way as any other claim: we check whether the reporting was right, publish any needed correction, and otherwise stand by it. Letters from governments are treated as correspondence, and answered by an editor.
If you think we got it wrong
Readers spot our errors more often than editors do. Complaints are read by the desk, not by a queue.
Factual error
Send the story, the sentence and what you believe is right, with whatever evidence you have. If it holds up, we correct it and say so.
Fairness
If you were criticised and believe the piece misrepresents your position, tell us where the copy departs from what you said and we will re-read the material.
Attribution
If material of yours appears without proper credit, or with the wrong rights holder, write in and we will fix or remove it.
Confidential tip
Documents and testimony that matter to a story are welcome. Tell us how you would like to be contacted, and we will follow your preference.
Questions readers ask about our standards
Short answers to the parts of this page readers usually want spelled out. If yours is missing, the desk will answer it.
Can I see the documents behind a story?
Where a document can be published without exposing a source, we link it or quote it at length. Where it cannot, we describe what it is and what it says, and we tell you why it is not attached. Protecting a source is not an excuse for vagueness about the evidence.
Why do you use anonymous sources at all?
Because some information cannot reach readers any other way. We limit them to cases where the source knows something first-hand, an editor has met or verified them, and there is no equivalent on-the-record route. The story tells you what the source's position is and why they are not named.
How quickly is a correction published?
A clear factual error is fixed as soon as it is confirmed, with a note on the story. Anything needing re-reporting takes longer, and we would rather take that time than publish a second wrong version. The note stays up; corrections are not removed once the immediate pressure passes.
Do sponsors influence what you cover?
No. Commercial agreements are handled by a separate team that has no say over scheduling, framing or editorial decisions. Sponsored pages are labelled as sponsored, and any relationship between a funder and a story we publish is disclosed in the copy.
How is opinion kept separate from news?
By label, by author and by editing. Opinion runs under its own section and its author's name, and it is edited by a different desk from the one handling news. A reader should be able to tell the two apart from the top of the page, before reading a line.
Read the reporting, then judge it
Standards only mean something when readers can hold the work against them. Use this page as the yardstick: check where a claim came from, whether the label matches the content, and how we handled the last correction you saw. Questions, corrections and confidential tips are welcome at the desk.
Reaching the newsroom
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Address
370 E 31st St, Brooklyn, NY 11226, USA
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Desk hours
Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
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Corrections and tips
StacyPhillips@winslowarsenault.com -
Telephone
+1 718 462 8600
Related reading: our corrections and clarifications policy sits alongside the newsroom's approach to sourcing and verification, listed under Editorial Standards and summarised on the About Winslow Arsenault page.