Accuracy
Names, dates, quotations, locations, numbers, documents, and material claims are checked against the strongest available evidence before publication.
Editorial Standards & Accountability
Newsroom Standards
Ocean State Chronicle exists to provide clear, accurate, accountable reporting for Rhode Island. These standards explain how we gather, verify, present, and correct information in service of that mission.
The Standard
Get the facts right. Show the work. Treat people fairly.
OSC separates confirmed facts from allegations, opinion, analysis, personal recollection, and information that remains unverified. Claims are attributed to the people, agencies, records, or other sources from which they came.
Public interest guides our reporting decisions. Curiosity alone is not enough to justify publishing private, graphic, or needlessly harmful details. We weigh relevance, evidence, fairness, and the likely effect of publication before including sensitive information.
Core Principles
The rules behind the reporting.
These principles apply to news reports, investigations, public-records work, interviews, updates, and other journalism published by OSC.
Attribution
Readers should be able to tell what OSC independently confirmed and what is being reported from a source, record, witness, official, or other publication.
Fairness
People and organizations facing significant criticism or accusation are given a meaningful opportunity to respond before publication whenever circumstances reasonably allow.
Independence
Editorial conclusions are not sold or promised. Relevant personal, financial, political, or organizational ties are disclosed when they could reasonably affect how readers evaluate the work.
Proportionality
Headlines, photographs, social posts, and story language should match the verified facts. We do not exaggerate uncertainty or harm merely to make a story feel more dramatic.
Transparency
We disclose meaningful limitations, explain substantial updates, and correct material factual errors clearly. Accountability continues after an article is published.
Sources & Evidence
Strong claims require strong support.
Source credibility depends on proximity to the facts, supporting records, possible motives, corroboration, and whether the source can be identified publicly.
Named sources
On-the-record, identifiable sources are preferred. Their statements are attributed accurately and presented in the context in which they were made.
Unnamed sources
Confidentiality is reserved for information with genuine public value when a source faces a credible reason not to be named. Readers receive as much context about the source as safety and confidentiality permit.
Public records
Records are identified and described accurately. A document may show that a claim was made without independently proving that the claim is true.
Other reporting
Reporting first established by another news organization is credited and linked when practical. OSC does not present another outlet’s original work as its own.
Sensitive Coverage
Public interest without needless harm.
- Accusations and criminal matters: Allegations are attributed, legal status is stated precisely, and a charge is not treated as proof of guilt.
- Victims, families, and grief: Private details are limited to what is relevant and justified. Trauma is not used as spectacle.
- Children and vulnerable people: Identifying details receive heightened scrutiny, with safety, consent, and lasting digital exposure considered before publication.
- Graphic material: Disturbing images or descriptions are used only when their public value outweighs the risk of unnecessary harm, and warnings are added when appropriate.
- Private information: Addresses, personal contact details, medical information, and other sensitive data are withheld unless essential to the reporting and supported by a clear public need.
How a report moves toward publication.
Gather
Collect interviews, records, observations, prior reporting, and the clearest available account of what happened.
Verify
Test material claims, compare accounts, inspect supporting documents, and identify what remains uncertain.
Seek response
Give relevant people, agencies, or organizations a fair chance to address significant allegations or disputed facts.
Publish and watch
Present the evidence clearly, document meaningful changes, and remain alert for new facts, responses, or corrections.
Questions & Accountability
Hold our reporting to the standard.
If you believe OSC published a factual error, use the corrections page to submit the article, the disputed statement, and supporting evidence. General questions about our reporting may be sent directly to the newsroom.