Standards and corrections
How I report, how I protect sources and every correction I have made this year (sample).
How I work
The rules I keep for every piece, whoever publishes it.
- I name my sources unless that would put them at risk, and I say why when I do not
- Every number links to the document it comes from
- People I write about can reply before the piece runs
- Mistakes are corrected in public, with the date and what changed
Corrections log
When I get something wrong, the piece is fixed and the change is listed here (sample).
Wed 8 Oct
Six companies, one address
The number of flats owned by the second company was 41, not 44.
Fri 26 Sep
Three questions for the new head of housing
The head of housing started in August, not July.
Tue 2 Sep
What the summer budget meeting decided
A councillor’s name was misspelt; corrected the same day.
Protecting sources
I agree how I will describe you before you tell me anything sensitive: by name, by a description such as a tenant on Mill Road, or not at all. That agreement does not change after publication.
Notes that could identify an anonymous source stay on paper, in my notebook, not in shared files.
Know something Springfield should know?
Tell me what happened and how you know. I read every message myself and never name a source without asking first.