This page sets out how we source stories, how we handle mistakes, and what we will and will not publish. If you think we have fallen short of it, tell us at [email protected].
Sourcing
We work from primary sources where they exist: meeting agendas and packets, public records, filings, official results, and the people directly involved. Where a fact comes from another news organisation, we name that organisation in the story and link to it. We do not present another outlet’s reporting as our own.
Where an article is our summary of material published elsewhere, such as a death notice compiled from a funeral home’s obituary, we say so in the article and link to the original.
What we do when we cannot confirm something
We say so, in the article, in plain words. Our stories carry explicit statements of what we were unable to verify and why. We would rather publish an acknowledged gap than a confident sentence with nothing behind it.
We do not fill gaps with inference presented as fact, and we do not round a partial answer up into a whole one.
Corrections
We correct errors of fact promptly and visibly.
- A factual error is corrected in the article, with a note saying what was changed.
- A significant error, one that changes what a reasonable reader would take away, gets a correction notice at the top of the article.
- Typographical fixes that do not change meaning are made silently.
- We do not quietly delete an article to make a mistake go away.
Send corrections to [email protected] with the article and the specific sentence. You do not need to explain why it matters.
Naming people
We publish police and fire reports and court coverage. Those records name people who have been arrested or charged.
An arrest is not a conviction. Where we learn that a case named in our coverage was dismissed, resolved without a finding of guilt, or ended in acquittal, we will add that to the article on request, and we treat those requests as corrections rather than favours. Write to us with the docket or the disposition.
We do not publish accusations from anonymous sources against named private individuals.
Advertising and independence
Advertising is sold separately from editorial and has no influence on coverage. Advertisers do not see stories before publication and cannot buy their way out of one. Where a story involves an advertiser, we disclose that in the story.
Artificial intelligence
We use software to help with research, drafting, and production. Every article is reviewed by a person before it publishes, and a person is accountable for it. Software does not decide what we cover, and it does not publish here unreviewed.
Ownership
chelseamass.net is independently owned and is not a publication of any government body, political campaign, or advocacy organisation.