Editorial Standards & Corrections

The standards every My Blog report, investigation and film is held to.

Show what we find

We report what we can show, not what makes a better story. We cut films for length and clarity, never to change the meaning of what someone said or what happened.

The official line

When the people in charge give an account of events, we quote it fairly and say who said it and where, and we set it beside what our reporting found. We never trim an official statement to make it look worse than it is.

How we grade evidence

Investigations carry an evidence board: numbered exhibits, where each came from, and a grade for how far we have been able to check it.

• Verified: checked against the original source.
• Corroborated: backed up by at least two independent sources.
• Unverified: we could not confirm it independently. We only publish unverified material when it matters to the story, and we always say so.
• Disputed: someone named in the story challenges it. Their response is included.

We never publish anything that would identify a source who needs protecting, and we redact names and details where publishing them would cause harm without serving the public interest.

First-hand where possible

We go to the places we report on. When we rely on documents, data or other outlets’ reporting, we say so and link to the source.

Right of reply

People and organisations we make allegations about are told what we intend to publish and given a fair amount of time to respond before publication. Their response is included and summarised fairly, and stories carry a log of who we asked and what they said.

The Power Register

Every institution and official we put questions to has an entry in the Power Register. Each right-of-reply request counts once: answered, answered after publication, declined to comment, did not respond, or still waiting. The silence rate is the share of settled requests that were declined or ignored; requests still within their deadline are not counted against anyone. Answers that arrive late are added to the story and the register.

Freedom of Information

We use the Freedom of Information Act to get the documents behind the official line. Every request we make is logged on The Buried File: who we asked, what we asked for, the legal deadline (20 working days, not counting weekends and bank holidays) and what came back. We publish what we asked in full but leave out anything that could identify a source. When a public body runs past its deadline, the page counts the days until it answers.

Since we reported

When something happens after a story runs, we add a dated note to the story’s “Since we reported” record rather than rewriting the original. Corrections to the story itself are logged separately.

Consent and protection

We film people with their informed consent, take extra care with anyone vulnerable or under 18, and protect sources who need anonymity. Undercover or hidden recording is used only when there is a clear public interest and no other way to get the evidence.

Independence

Advertisers, sponsors and funders have no say over what we cover or how. Any paid partnership is clearly labelled.

Corrections

If we get something wrong, we fix it and add a note at the end of the story saying what changed and when. To report an error, use the Contact page and choose “Report an error or correction”, or email admin@stormmount.com.