I will make jokes about Portland's horse-parking rings. I will not make up the horse, the artist or the history.
I'm Larie Pidgeon, and this is how our Portland-based newsroom checks the stories, handles photographs, labels paid work and corrects mistakes. You should know what we did before asking you to trust what we wrote.
When a story can be confirmed with the person doing the thing, the organization running it, a public agency or a primary document, that is where we start. Other media can point us toward a story. It does not automatically become our source.
Hours, prices, dates, access rules, event details and seasonal information get a verification date. Old event coverage stays useful only when we clearly tell you the event has passed and what is evergreen.
We use our own photography, source-supplied imagery, licensed material or clearly attributed open-license work. Photographer credits and usage permissions belong in the reporting record—not in a folder we hope nobody asks about.
Hosted access, gifted experiences, affiliate relationships and paid partnerships are different things and should be treated like different things. Paid work is labeled. A sponsor can fund a story or deliverable. It cannot purchase a false claim, ranking or conclusion.
If publishing an exact location could harm wildlife, overwhelm a fragile place or violate somebody’s privacy, we may deliberately leave it out. The Vaux’s Swift story is a good example: Bird Alliance trusted us with smaller roost locations. We did not publish them.
If we get something wrong, we correct it. Material corrections should be visible enough that a reader can understand what changed. The goal is not to look infallible. The goal is to be trustworthy when we are not.
We owe readers a story that earns their time, the details they need to act on it, links to original sources when appropriate and clear dates on information that can change.
We listen carefully, quote fairly, honor image rights and disclose commercial relationships. We do not hand over the conclusion just because somebody paid for distribution.
If a date, name, claim or location is wrong, we want to know. Show us the evidence and we'll look again.