1. Story selection. The editorial team selects stories on three criteria: public interest, verifiability and relevance to readers. Public interest means the story affects how Americans are governed, how they work, how they live or how the country acts abroad. Verifiability means the facts can be checked against primary material. Relevance means the story matters to the site's audience, not merely to the news cycle. Traffic potential is never the deciding criterion.
2. Sources. Articles are built from public reporting, official statements, government and court records, company disclosures, data and named individuals. Primary sources are preferred. When a story draws on another outlet's original reporting, that outlet is credited and linked. Unverified rumor, anonymous social-media claims and speculation are not published as fact, regardless of how widely they circulate.
3. Verification and human review. Before publication, an editor checks every factual claim in the article: names, titles, figures, dates, quotes and locations. A claim that cannot be verified is qualified as unconfirmed or removed. This review is performed by a person on every article. The standard rises when a story contains an allegation of wrongdoing against a named person or organization: such stories require additional confirmation and, wherever possible, a response from the subject.
4. News, analysis and opinion. Straight reporting, explanatory analysis and opinion are kept distinct and labeled as what they are. Analysis interprets verified facts; it does not introduce unverified ones. Opinion is the view of its author and is presented as such.
5. Updates and corrections. Developing stories are updated as material facts change. A substantive update carries a timestamp and a note describing what changed. Errors are corrected under the Corrections Policy, which defines what counts as a correction, how visibly it is marked and how quickly it is made.
6. Independence. Editorial decisions are made by the editors alone. Advertisers, sponsors and commercial partners have no vote in story selection, framing or timing. Paid content is labeled and is produced separately from the news report.
Questions about this policy or about a specific article go to [email protected].