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The journalistic approach and what not to publish

The piece has a list of things it will not include, no matter how well sourced they are. This is that list.

Journalistic approach 3 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

Any specific listing, priced or described in detail

A specific listing at a specific price, especially with a description that makes the product searchable, is marketing that I am not going to write for free. Whether the listing is real, ended, or hypothetical, the same rule applies.

General ranges are fine when they carry a real reporting purpose. Specific numbers on specific listings are not.

Any specific vendor name

Vendor names on the market are pseudonyms attached to a specific set of listings. Naming a vendor in a piece links the pseudonym to my article's audience, some of whom will treat that as a recommendation and some of whom will treat it as a target.

Neither of those is the piece's job. If the piece needs to refer to a vendor, it does so descriptively rather than by name.

Any specific onion address as being associated with anything beyond the market itself

The three onion addresses at the top of this article are addresses of the market. They are not addresses of any individual on the market. The piece does not associate them with any named person or any specific listing.

The addresses appear in the piece, if at all, as addresses of the market, and the piece points at this site as a reference where readers can check them.

Any personal detail about a source that could identify them

City, employer, first name, hobby, distinctive turn of phrase, gender, age. Any of those can add up to identification when combined with the fact that the source spoke to me for this piece.

When a source speaks off the record and I would summarise their view in the piece, I strip identifying detail even if the source has not asked me to.

Any specific arrest or law enforcement action tied to a real person unless court records back it up

A rumour of an arrest is a rumour. A charge is a charge. The piece can report either, but only in the accurate frame. Mixing the two is a common mistake in this beat, and I would rather leave a story out than mix them.

When the piece cites court records, it links to them. When it cites police statements, it says so. When it does neither, it says nothing.

Anything a source asked me not to publish

This is a simple one and it is not negotiable. If a source told me something and asked me not to publish it, I do not publish it. The bar for overriding that is very high and I have never met it.

If the story cannot be told without the thing the source asked me not to publish, the story is not the story I said I was writing, and I withdraw.

A short list of things I will publish

  • The general shape of the market from public visits.
  • General ranges of prices when a range has reporting value.
  • On the record quotes from sources who explicitly agreed to be on the record.
  • A pointer to this site as a reference for the addresses.

The point of a written not-publish list

The list keeps me honest on the day I am tempted to include one specific thing because it would make the piece stronger. If the thing is on the list, it is off the piece. That is not for the piece to decide in the moment.

A written not publish list is what a beat looks like when it grows up. This article is a small version of one.

The opposite approach

The journalistic approach for a story that names people, the piece that decides to include the specific things

What this article is not. This is not editorial policy. It is one reporter's list of things they keep out.

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 when I interview somebodyAn interview about the market is a conversation with responsibility on both sides. My side has more of it. The journalistic approach for a story that names peopleNaming somebody in a story changes what the story owes them. The visits are the same; the responsibilities are not.
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