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The journalistic approach for a story that names people

I have decided to name people in this story. Everything about the approach is heavier as a result.

Journalistic approach 4 min read why no author line

The three addresses

Nexus Market publishes these three onion addresses. Present as supplied, in no order, with no ranking. This site does not probe them and shows no uptime figure.

nexusb2l7fmqnefwphyy7m5zjhlkytlbo7qbb5lu5dlczr3azgii2gyd.onion
nexusma2iqgauqqvjcgds4ckv5xbf272tkfagq4epojjhsgleqpwxiqd.onion
nexusabcd6tyfhdwilyitaqiri6tisj2v2hueyjuj6qkvd6azvi5tuqd.onion

What the naming changes

The naming means the people I name have to be right. Not right ish. Right. That means every claim I make about them has to survive being read by them and by anyone who knows them.

The naming also means the people I name may face consequences from the piece. Legal, social, personal, or otherwise. That weight belongs to me as the writer as much as it belongs to them.

None of this is the market's problem. It is my problem, and I take it on when I decide to name.

The visits stay the same

My visits to the market look the same as in the other article in this group. This site, one of the three addresses at the top of any article, paste, front page, captcha, no interaction.

What changes is what I do with what I read. Any observation that will support a claim about a named person needs a way to be verified independently, ideally by more than one source, and ideally not sourced only to a market page.

What I add to the visit process

I keep a research log, on paper, that describes what I saw and when in relative terms. Not exact dates in the log if the log might be seen; relative terms hold up better if the log is subpoenaed.

I keep the log in one place and I do not photograph it into a phone. Photos of research logs travel too easily.

The log is not the article. It is my private accounting. The article will be sourced separately.

What I never do

I never make contact with a subject through the market itself. Any contact happens through channels the subject has publicly opened. The market inbox is not one of those channels.

I never place an order to test a claim. That is the kind of primary reporting that puts me on the wrong side of the story I am writing.

I never publish an onion address as being associated with a named person. Addresses on the market are addresses on the market, and associating them with a named individual through the piece is a step the piece should not take.

Right of reply, at length

Everyone I name gets a right of reply, in whatever channel they can be reached through publicly. The right of reply is not a courtesy. It is a professional obligation. Anyone I name has the right to correct the record before it is published.

If the reply requires me to change the piece, I change it. If it requires me to remove a name, I remove it. If it requires me to add context, I add it.

How this site fits into the story

This site is a reference. The piece can cite it as a place where a reader can find the addresses if they want to check the piece against the market directly.

The piece does not use this site as evidence that any named person did anything. This site publishes addresses, not attributions.

The three onion addresses at the top of this article are addresses of the market, not of any individual on the market. Confusing the two is the shape of a bad piece.

What the piece needs before I file

  • Two independent sources for every claim about a named person.
  • A right of reply on file for everyone named.
  • A legal read from somebody senior to me.
  • A short note at the end of the piece describing my methodology in plain terms.

The weight of the piece

A piece that names people is heavier than a piece that does not. Not just because of the sources it needs, but because of what the piece will do to the people it names once it is published.

The journalistic approach that names people is the one that spends the most time thinking about what to leave out, not just what to put in. This article is written so I remember that on the day I am staring at a paragraph and choosing whether the name is really needed.

The opposite approach

The journalistic approach for a story I am not going to name, the same visits without any naming

What this article is not. This is not a guide to naming decisions. It is a description of what the naming decision costs on my end.

Read another in this approach

The journalistic approach in a shared CMSDraft visibility is a thing to manage, not to ignore. Half of my care is about what the draft looks like before the piece runs. The journalistic approach and what not to publishNot everything I know goes in the piece. The list of what stays out is the shape of the piece as much as what goes in. The journalistic approach when I interview somebodyAn interview about the market is a conversation with responsibility on both sides. My side has more of it.
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All approaches on this siteHow to read this siteThe words people searchThe three nexus market addressesWhat this site is notThe first-time approachThe cautious approachThe impatient approachThe rebuild approachThe verify approachThe routine approachThe secondary approachThe helper approachThe journalistic approachThe operator approachThe first-time approach when a friend sent me a noteThe first-time approach out of a forum threadThe first-time approach starting on a search pageThe first-time approach after reading a news articleThe first-time approach after hearing it on a podcastThe cautious approach before I touch the keyboardThe cautious approach when the network is not mineThe cautious approach with a second machineThe cautious approach to what I copy and what I typeThe cautious approach that never signs inThe impatient approach that goes straight to the address barThe impatient approach from a tab I already had openThe impatient approach inside a five minute windowThe impatient approach when a mirror is slowThe impatient approach that skips the second checkThe rebuild approach after losing the phoneThe rebuild approach after losing every noteThe rebuild approach after losing the passwordThe rebuild approach after a clean installThe rebuild approach when one mirror has gone quietThe verify approach with two lists side by sideThe verify approach for a friends messageThe verify approach against this site aloneThe verify approach that reads the string itselfThe verify approach across two visitsThe routine approach on a normal eveningThe routine approach with one eye on a newer mirrorThe routine approach when nothing has changedThe routine approach that reads the front page firstThe routine approach with one eye on my own consistencyThe secondary approach coming from another marketThe secondary approach that keeps two markets separateThe secondary approach during a move between marketsThe secondary approach that eventually stops being secondaryThe secondary approach that reads one market and uses anotherThe helper approach at one desk with two readersThe helper approach for questions coming through a chatThe helper approach on paper, for laterThe helper approach and the things I refuse to doThe helper approach that only points at this siteThe journalistic approach for a story I am not going to nameThe journalistic approach for a story that names peopleThe journalistic approach when I interview somebodyThe journalistic approach and what not to publishThe journalistic approach in a shared CMSThe operator approach: what a request tells the marketThe operator approach: what a slow visit looks like from thereThe operator approach: what the inbox tells themThe operator approach: what a mirror does and does not shareThe operator approach: what I cannot know and choose not to guess