These standards apply to everyone who files for the The Sentinel Dispatch, including contributors and columnists.
Anonymous sources
We grant anonymity only when the information is significant, unavailable another way, and the source faces a real consequence for speaking. Every request goes through the standards editor before it runs.
When we grant it, we tell readers why. A person familiar with the matter is not sufficient on its own. We explain what makes them familiar and what they stand to lose.
Documents
We publish source documents where we can. Where a document was provided on condition that we not publish it, we say so rather than implying we hold more than we do.
We do not publish records released to us in error where doing so would identify an individual, though we do report that they exist.
Corrections
Factual errors are corrected on the page and logged publicly. We do not remove articles and we do not silently revise them. If a story is wrong enough that a correction is insufficient, we retract it and explain why.
Conflicts of interest
Staff disclose financial interests in any sector they cover and recuse themselves where a conflict exists. Opinion writers work independently of the newsroom and do not have advance access to unpublished reporting.