Corrections Policy

We get things wrong. When we do, the fix is visible on the article itself, dated, and permanent. We do not quietly edit a page and let the error disappear.

Reporting an error

Write to corrections@usinnews.com. Include the article URL, the exact sentence or figure you believe is wrong, and — if you have one — the source that contradicts it. You do not need to be the subject of the story, and you do not need to explain why you care.

You can also reach the editor-in-chief directly at editor@usinnews.com if you think a correction request has been handled badly.

What happens next

We check the disputed claim against the source material the article was compiled from — the broadcast transcripts or the primary pages the story was built on. That is the same material the original verification pass used, so the question is answerable: either the sources support the claim or they do not.

If the sources do not support it, we correct it. If they do support it and you have a source that says otherwise, that is a disagreement between sources, and we report the disagreement in the article rather than choosing a side. If the claim was right, we tell you so and explain what it rests on.

You get a reply either way. We aim to respond within two business days, and to act on a clear factual error the same day we confirm it.

The four correction types

Every change to a published article falls into one of four categories. Each is displayed differently, because they mean different things.

Typo. A spelling, grammar, or formatting error that does not change the meaning of any sentence. Fixed in place. The article's updated date changes. No correction notice, because nothing a reader understood was wrong.

Clarification. The article was accurate but could be read the wrong way, or was missing context that changes how a correct fact lands. The text is amended and a dated clarification note is appended at the foot of the article explaining what was made clearer and why.

Correction. A factual error — a wrong number, name, date, attribution, or claim. The error is fixed in the body text and a dated correction notice is appended stating what the article originally said and what it now says. The notice names the error explicitly. "An earlier version said X. It said Y." is not a correction notice; "An earlier version reported the toll as 18. Three broadcasts placed it at 17" is.

Retraction. The story's central claim does not hold. The article stays at its URL. The retracted text is struck through, not deleted, and a retraction notice sits at the top of the page explaining what was wrong and how it happened. A reader who followed a link to that story sees exactly what we published and exactly why it was withdrawn.

What we do not do

We do not silently delete corrections. A correction notice, once attached to an article, stays attached to it. It is not removed after a period of time, and it is not dropped when the article is otherwise updated.

We do not unpublish an article to make an error go away. Removing a URL breaks every link to it and hides the record. Retraction — struck-through text, notice at the top, article still there — is the honest version of the same action.

We do not correct by stealth edit. If a change alters what a reader would have understood, it gets a notice. The only changes that go unnoticed are the ones that change nothing.

Why this is written down

Our stories are compiled from named broadcast sources and checked by an automated verification pass with editorial oversight from a named editor. That process removes claims it cannot verify, but it does not make the site infallible — sources are sometimes wrong, and early reporting on a developing story is frequently wrong. A visible corrections record is the only honest answer to that. Chris Simpson, editor-in-chief, is accountable for every correction on this site.