# Editorial Standards

## Contents

1. Purpose
2. Quality scorecard
3. Source hierarchy
4. Story selection rules
5. Failure modes

## Purpose

Use this reference to keep every briefing commercially credible. The goal is not maximum volume. The goal is a report that a paying customer would trust, forward, and reuse.

## Quality Scorecard

Score each draft from 1 to 5 on each dimension. Revise if any category is below 4.

| Dimension | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Timeliness | All key items are current and explicitly dated | Some items are current but dates are fuzzy | Stale or ambiguous timing |
| Relevance | Every item matters to the target audience | Mixed relevance | Generic and unfocused |
| Sourcing | Every major claim is supported and linked | Some weak or indirect sourcing | Sparse sourcing or no links |
| Insight | Includes implications, not just facts | Some interpretation | Pure aggregation |
| Compression | Dense with signal and easy to scan | Slightly bloated | Rambling and repetitive |
| Presentation | Premium, elegant, consistent | Acceptable but plain | Visually messy |

## Source Hierarchy

Prefer sources in this order:

1. Official primary sources
   Filings, regulator announcements, official press releases, company blogs, product docs, investor relations pages, transcripts.
2. Direct evidence
   Public demos, release notes, datasets, benchmark reports, court documents.
3. High-credibility reporting
   Reputable publications with original reporting or named sourcing.
4. Aggregators and summaries
   Use only as supporting context, not as the core evidence.

If two reliable sources disagree, surface the conflict instead of smoothing it over.

## Story Selection Rules

Choose stories with at least one of these properties:

- changes decisions
- changes forecasts
- changes competitive positioning
- changes regulatory or legal risk
- changes revenue, distribution, cost, or user behavior assumptions

Deprioritize stories that are merely interesting unless the user explicitly asks for lighter editorial coverage.

## Failure Modes

Avoid these mistakes:

- collecting too many mid-tier stories
- repeating the same development from multiple angles
- using vague time references without a date
- burying the most important item
- including links only at the end instead of near each story
- writing summaries that merely restate the headline
- adding grand conclusions that are not supported by the source set