Editorial Standards
These standards bind every public log entry. They are not aspirations for a later, more serious version of the site. If an entry cannot meet them, it does not ship.
Five kinds of sentence
Every assertion in a log entry must be written so a reader can tell which of these it is:
- Verified fact. Established by a primary record, and, for high-risk or central claims, corroborated independently when such corroboration is available.
- Attributed allegation. Someone said it, on the record or in a filing. The saying is the fact. The thing said is not.
- Analysis. An inference the desk draws from established facts. Labeled as analysis. It can be wrong without being a lie; it cannot be smuggled in as a fact.
- Opinion. A value judgment. Rare in the log proper; if it appears, it is marked.
- Unresolved question. A gap. Printed as a question, not as an insinuation that answers itself.
Blurring these is an error. So is a headline that states as fact what the body only alleges.
Crime and culpability
The desk does not state that a named person committed a crime unless a court judgment, official finding, guilty plea, or equivalent record establishes it. Charging documents, lawsuits, leaks, and viral threads are not verdicts. They may be logged as attributed allegations, with the posture of the case attached.
This is not courtesy. It is accuracy.
Proof versus leads
Reddit is lead discovery only, never proof. The same rule covers other social threads, anonymous tips, screenshots without provenance, and “people are saying.” A lead may start reporting. It may not finish a sentence that the public is asked to believe.
High-risk or central claims need a primary source plus independent corroboration when that corroboration is available. If it is not available, the entry either waits, narrows the claim, or states the limit in plain language.
Subjects get a chance to answer
When an allegation is serious, the subject gets a fair opportunity to respond before publication, as described in Right of Reply. A declined or ignored request is noted. A response that arrives later is appended. Silence is not a confession.
One standard
The same evidentiary bar applies to this White House and the last one, to this Congress and the minority that wants it, to contractors and the agencies that hire them. Party is not a source. Administration is not a character reference.
The desk criticizes power and conduct. It does not mock protected traits or treat ordinary voters as fair game for contempt.
No reckless certainty
“We do not know yet” is a publishable sentence. “Everyone can see what this is” is usually not. Relentless skepticism includes skepticism of the desk’s own draft.