Editorial Guidelines

These guidelines govern everything we publish. Every staff writer, contributor, and freelance editor agrees to them before they file. Our editors enforce them before anything goes live.

Sourcing

We build reporting on verifiable sources, in this preference order:

• Primary sources — official studio and league announcements, press releases, court and regulatory filings, on-the-record interviews, original documents we can produce on request.
• Named secondary reporting — established outlets and trade publications with a track record on the beat. When we use their reporting, we credit them and link to the original.
• Attributed expert comment — analysts, critics, agents, and industry figures on the record. Anonymous sources are used only when we cannot get the story any other way and the public interest is clear.

We do not publish single-sourced claims about contested matters without seeking corroboration. Rumour and speculation get labelled as such — never reported as fact.

News, opinion, sponsored

Readers should always know what they are reading. We mark:

• News — factual reporting that meets our sourcing standards.
• Opinion / analysis / reviews — the writer’s informed judgement, clearly labelled and bylined. A reviewer’s verdict is theirs alone.
• Sponsored or partner content — anything produced under a commercial arrangement is labelled “Sponsored”, “Paid”, or “In partnership with”, and is visually distinct from editorial. Sponsors never get editorial control.

Originality and plagiarism

Every story is original work. We do not lift structure, reuse another outlet’s reporting without credit, or run AI-generated text as our own. Quotes are attributed, facts sourced from others are credited, and direct excerpts are kept brief. Writers found to have plagiarised will have their work pulled and their relationship with the publication ended.

Use of AI

We use AI as an aid for research, transcription, and rough drafting. We do not publish AI-generated copy that has not been substantially rewritten and verified by a human reporter. We do not pass off AI-generated images as photographs. Where AI assistance was material to how a piece was produced, we disclose it in the piece.

Images, licensing, fair use

We use only images we have the right to use: licensed stock, official press material provided for editorial use, our own work, or properly attributed permissions. We do not strip watermarks or credits. Limited excerpts of copyrighted material for criticism, review, or news reporting are used within fair-use limits and with credit. On a valid rights-holder request we remove or replace promptly.

Updates and timestamps

When we make a substantive update — new facts, corrected information, significant new developments — we add a timestamp and, where the change corrects an error, an explicit correction note. Original publication dates remain visible. Minor copy-edits that do not change meaning are not separately flagged. Our full approach is in our Corrections Policy.

Headlines

Headlines must be supported by the article beneath them. We do not write clickbait that overstates, misleads, or withholds the substance of a story to manufacture curiosity. If a headline turns out to mislead, we change it and note the change.

Verification

Before publication, claims are checked against our sourcing rules and our Fact-Checking Policy. The responsible desk editor signs off on every story. Conflicts of interest, gifts, and review access are handled under our Ethics Policy.

If you believe we have fallen short of these guidelines, write to [email protected]. We read every email.

Last updated: 4 June 2026