Editorial03 Aug 2026

Contact the desk

How to file a correction, send a tip, or reach the editorial team for any other reason.

Reader-filed corrections

The desk accepts reader-filed corrections at [email protected]. The desk verifies the reader's source against the tier rules within 24 hours. Where the source meets the tier rules, the desk posts a correction on the dispatch stream; where it does not, the desk replies with the verification trail.

Tips and scene reports

The desk reads scene reports from readers, but scene reports are Tier-3 sources on the evidence register. The desk cites scene reports only as scene context, never as fact. Where a reader's scene report is corroborated by a Tier-1 source, the desk cites the Tier-1 source.

Operator inquiries

Operators, publishers and trade-press desks with editorial inquiries should email [email protected]. The desk does not accept payment in exchange for editorial coverage or editorial silence; operator inquiries that read as pitches are declined with a one-line acknowledgement.

What the desk will not reply to

The desk does not reply to wagering-pitch emails, link-exchange pitches or SEO service offers. The desk does not accept sponsored posts, sponsored reviews, sponsored placements or paid editorial. The desk's commercial disclosure at /disclosure/ names the operator relationship the desk has; no other commercial relationships exist.

Posting address

The desk does not list a postal address on the public site. Where postal correspondence is required for legal reasons, please email first to receive the postal address for the relevant purpose.

Reader depth

Reading reader correspondence the way the desk does

Three habits the desk follows when reading reader correspondence.

The first habit is to reply within 24 hours with the verification trail. The desk replies to reader-filed corrections, tips and inquiries within 24 hours on weekdays; weekend replies may take longer depending on the editorial cycle. Where the reply requires verification (a correction, a source inquiry), the reply cites the source the desk consulted and the tier the source lives on. The desk does not reply with a generic acknowledgement.

The second habit is to keep the verification trail short. The desk does not publish a long-form reply to a reader inquiry. The reply is short enough to fit in a browser tab and dated so the reader can audit the desk's editorial cycle. Where the reply requires a longer read, the desk links out to the page the reader can read on the site rather than expand the reply.

The third habit is to decline what the desk will not engage with. The desk does not reply to wagering-pitch emails, link-exchange pitches or SEO service offers. The desk does not accept sponsored posts, sponsored reviews, sponsored placements or paid editorial. The desk declines pitches with a one-line acknowledgement and does not engage further. The list of decline topics is on /contact/ and the desk's editorial-ethics page.

Where the desk diverges from coverage that mirrors trade-press reads is on the reply-cadence discipline. Trade press will sometimes accept hospitality from operators or publishers the publication covers, or take weeks to reply to a reader correction. The desk does not. The desk declines hospitality where the policy would otherwise apply, and the desk replies within 24 hours on weekdays. The discipline is sometimes slower to operate; it is always more honest to read.

The desk also treats reader correspondence as a working document. Replies move up the publish-ladder as sources confirm; replies that fall off the publisher or operator page get removed, not retained as a footnote. The contact page is rebuilt from publisher and operator pages only. A reply the desk kept for "tracking purposes" is a reply the reader cannot verify, so the desk removes rather than retains. This is sometimes the slower choice; it is always the more honest choice.

Editorial cycle: weekday-morning source-scan, weekday-afternoon narrative-edit, weekly patch workshop. Verification timestamps on the dispatch stream.

Editorial working notes

How the desk reads this

A working description of the editorial cadence the desk follows on this route.

Where a reader inquiry requires more than a short reply, the desk uses the editorial cycle to draft a longer reply. The drafting cycle reads the inquiry, identifies the editorial source the inquiry touches, and drafts a reply that cites the source and the date the desk last verified it. The reply is logged on the desk's internal spreadsheet; the spreadsheet is a working document, not a public archive.

The reply is sent to the same email address the reader used to contact the desk, with a copy retained for the desk's records. The retention period is 30 days; the data is deleted after that unless the inquiry is part of an ongoing corrections cycle. The reader can ask for the reply to be deleted earlier by emailing the desk; the desk deletes the reply within 14 days of the request.

What the desk does not retain: browsing data, IP addresses, device identifiers or any third-party tracking data. The desk's hosting infrastructure records HTTP access logs for the desk's own use, and the logs are deleted after 30 days; the logs are not used to identify individual readers, and the desk does not tie browsing history to reader inquiries.

Operator inquiries are handled by the desk's editorial cycle rather than by a separate operator-relations function. The desk declines operator pitches with a one-line acknowledgement and does not engage further. Where an operator inquiry reads as a request for editorial coverage, the desk declines the inquiry on the basis of the editorial-ethics policy and offers to point the operator to the corrections register if the operator's inquiry is about a published error.

Reader-filed corrections are treated as a public record. Where a reader files a correction that meets the desk's tier rules, the correction is published on the dispatch stream under the reader's contribution (the reader can ask for the desk to redact the reader's identity from the public record before the correction publishes). The reader's email is not published.

Worked example

How the cycle reads in practice

A worked trace of the editorial cycle on this page.

A workflow example. A reader emails the desk at [email protected] with a correction request and cites a Tier-1 source. The desk reads the source within 24 hours, compares the source to the desk's last-verified version of the page the correction is about, decides whether the correction meets the desk's tier rules, and replies with one acknowledgement and one verification trail. The correction is then posted on the dispatch stream under the dispatch ID the desk assigns.

Where the workflow diverges for readers who do not cite a source. The desk replies within 24 hours with a one-line acknowledgement and asks the reader to cite a source the desk can verify. The desk does not extrapolate a correction from the reader's narrative alone. The reply cites the desk's tier rules and the evidence register so the reader can re-file the correction with a source the desk can verify.

Where the workflow diverges for operator inquiries. Operator inquiries are read within 24 hours on weekdays and replied to with a one-line acknowledgement. The desk declines the inquiry if it reads as a pitch. The desk does not engage with operator pitches beyond the one-line acknowledgement, and the desk does not accept payment in exchange for editorial coverage or editorial silence.

Where the workflow diverges for press inquiries. Press inquiries are read within 24 hours on weekdays and replied to with a one-line acknowledgement and a redirect to the corrections register or the editorial-ethics page. The desk does not engage with press pitches, and the desk does not accept payment in exchange for interview quotes, profile pieces or any other press content the press might publish.

Where the workflow diverges for crisis support requests. The desk does not provide crisis support or wagering-counselling services. The desk replies with one acknowledgement and one redirect to the relevant regional public-health service. The desk's reply is short by design — the desk does not engage with the reader's crisis beyond the redirect, and the desk does not store crisis-related correspondence beyond the retention policy on the privacy page.