Corrections & Standards

Corrections & Editorial Standards.

Our credibility is our entire product. Every statistic, chart, and claim we publish traces to a primary source. When we get something wrong, we fix it in the open — promptly, visibly, and on the record.

§ 01

How to submit a correction

If you believe something we published is inaccurate, email corrections@civicintelligence.news with the page URL, the specific statement at issue, and — where possible — the primary source that supports the correction. We review every submission.

§ 02

How we handle corrections

  • We fix it promptly. Confirmed factual errors are corrected as soon as we have verified the right figure, name, date, or quote.
  • We mark the change on the page. Substantive corrections are noted on the story itself — we do not quietly edit and move on. A retracted claim is retracted on the page, not buried.
  • We distinguish a correction from an update. New developments are added as clearly labeled updates; corrections fix something that was wrong when published.
§ 03

Our sourcing standard

Every load-bearing figure ties to a primary source — a DOJ charging document, an Inspector General report, a GAO audit, a court filing, an FEC filing, the Federal Register, a state auditor, an agency release, or comparable record — and we show the source. If we cannot source a claim, we do not publish it. We never fabricate a dollar amount, a date, a quote, a person, or a URL.

§ 04

Presumption of innocence

Defendants in pending criminal cases are presumed innocent until a verdict. We use “alleged,” “according to the indictment,” and “the committee found” for unresolved matters, and we do not assert guilt without a conviction.

§ 05

Opinion vs. reporting

We are a pointed accountability project with a clear editorial lane, and we say so. Where a page is analysis or opinion, it is framed as such. The facts underneath — the figures, names, and documents — are held to the same primary-source standard regardless of the framing.