Standards
The rules the desk works under
Every filing on the wire is checked against the same five tests. They are published here so a reader can hold the desk to them, and so a correction is a matter of record rather than a favor.
Sourcing
Applied in order. A filing that fails one test does not proceed to the next.
- 01
A document exists
The filing must rest on something published: bill text, docket entry, rule notice, audited table, or a signed letter. If the only artifact is a conversation, the desk does not have a story yet.
- 02
The document is the current version
Amendments, substitutions and enrolled versions are checked before writing. The most common error in political coverage is describing a bill that no longer exists.
- 03
Two independent confirmations
A second confirmation can be a person, but only alongside the paper. Two people who heard the same briefing count as one source.
- 04
The number is rebuilt
Any figure in a filing is reproduced from the issuing agency’s own file. Percentages are recomputed rather than copied from a summary, and rounding is disclosed.
- 05
The other side is asked, on the record
Institutions get a written request for comment with the specific finding attached, plus a stated deadline. Silence is reported as silence, not as guilt.
Anonymous material
When a name is withheld
Anonymity is granted by an editor, in writing, and only when the source faces a concrete risk that cannot be avoided another way. The reader is told why the name is withheld and what the person’s position is, in the narrowest terms that remain useful.
A filing never attributes a factual claim to “sources.” It attributes the claim to a document, or it describes the person’s access: “a committee staffer who reviewed the draft.” Characterization is not fact, and the desk does not print it as such.
Numbers
Counting in public
Every table on the wire is rebuilt from a source file, and the source is named in the caption. Where a series is revised, the filing shows both the original and the revised figure rather than quietly substituting one for the other.
Estimates carry their vintage. A score from last spring is labeled as such, because a bill’s cost changes when the baseline changes, and the baseline changes more often than most readers expect.
Corrections register
Last three entries| Entered | File | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-29 | Appropriations calendar explainer | Appropriations calendar explainerCorrected the count of regular appropriations acts from eleven to twelve; the District of Columbia act is separate in some years and bundled in others. |
| 2026-10-17 | State session calendar note | State session calendar noteClarified that seven legislatures meet part-time rather than five; the original figure excluded two states with biennial sessions. |
| 2026-10-08 | Court desk glossary entry | Court desk glossary entryReplaced “opinion” with “order” in a description of an emergency application. The distinction was material to the entry. |
Entries stay on this page permanently. A correction is also appended to the foot of the affected filing, with the same date and the same description.
Boundaries
What does not get filed
- Anything that would identify a private individual who has not entered public life.
- Unredacted personal data from court filings, including addresses and account numbers.
- Material from a document the desk cannot lawfully possess or describe.
- Speculation about an investigation’s outcome before a charging document exists.
If you believe a filing has crossed one of these lines, send the file name and the specific passage through the contact form. The desk reviews every such note the same week it arrives.
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