A practical route from pitch to final proof, including evidence, permissions, revisions, and corrections.
Give every piece a clear path
Use a lightweight production board with five states: pitched, assigned, draft, review, and published. A piece can have additional checkpoints, but everyone should know who owns the next action and what “ready” means.
- Brief: reader, question, angle, format, length, deadline, and required evidence.
- Report: gather notes, record sources, and distinguish firsthand material from secondhand claims.
- Draft: answer the reader's main question early; organize the remainder by what they need next.
- Edit: examine structure before sentences, then verify claims, then copyedit.
- Proof: inspect the final layout, links, labels, captions, and mobile view.
Keep an evidence trail
For each consequential claim, keep the source document, interview note, or dataset reference alongside the draft. Check dates, units, spellings, and whether a source actually supports the sentence you wrote. Attribute another person's interpretation rather than presenting it as an established fact.
Claim: “The program began in 2018.” Source: original announcement or program record. Checked on: date. Reviewer: name. Status: confirmed / revise / remove. For numbers, also record the unit and comparison period.
If a claim cannot be verified, narrow it, attribute it, or omit it. For high-stakes topics, add an appropriate subject-matter review before publication.
Clear text and image rights
Original writing is the simplest starting point. Keep a record of who created photos, illustrations, and excerpts, what use is allowed, any required credit, and where proof of permission is stored. “Found online” is not a usage license. Review the original license terms for each asset and ask for advice on uncertain rights.
For a grounding source, the U.S. Copyright Office circulars explain copyright basics and registration topics. Requirements vary by country and situation.
Make corrections visible
Set a route for readers to flag an error, assign someone to review it, and correct the article promptly. When a substantive fact changes after publication, note what was corrected and when. Do not silently rewrite a material claim.
Make this now: editorial release checklist
Structure approved • claims checked • names and dates checked • asset permissions recorded • links tested • image descriptions reviewed • final proof read • owner signs off • correction route established.
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