Our Policies and Standards

Accuracy matters. If a previously published factual claim is found to be wrong — a bad citation, an incorrect figure, a misapplied reliability tag — it will be corrected promptly and a dated note will be added to the Update Log explaining what changed and why. The Update Log tracks corrections to published claims, not routine additions of new content, which happen on an ongoing basis without a separate log entry. Corrections are not hidden; they are logged so readers can see the evolution of a claim.

We welcome corrections supported by reliable evidence. If you believe a factual error appears on this site, please email hello [at] newportbeachcivicledger.org with:

• the page URL
• the statement you believe is inaccurate
• supporting documentation

See what has changed. When we correct a previously published claim, a small "Correction logged" notice appears on that page for 14 days, linking to the specific correction on our Update Log. After 14 days the notice is removed automatically, but the correction remains permanently recorded on the Update Log.

The Newport Beach Civic Ledger is committed to transparency about evidence. Significant factual claims are labeled according to the strongest supporting evidence available, allowing readers to evaluate the information for themselves. Every significant claim on this site is labeled with a reliability tag: CONFIRMED, REPORTED, STATED, UNCONFIRMED, or DISCREPANCY. These tags describe how close the claim is to a primary or verifiable source, not whether the claim is politically right or wrong. See How We Verify Facts for the full definitions.

The Ledger seeks to distinguish clearly between verified facts, attributed statements, and analysis. Descriptive language reflects the evidence and, where applicable, the language used in official records.

DISCREPANCY is used when two or more checkable sources make contradicting claims about the same specific fact (a date, figure, vote count, quote, etc.), and neither can currently be established as more authoritative. Both claims are shown, each with its own source and tag, followed by a note that the discrepancy is unresolved and an invitation for readers to help. It is distinct from UNCONFIRMED (no record exists at all) and from ordinary two-sided coverage of opinions or positions, and we treat it as a temporary state — we keep looking for the resolving document. On the page it reads: "⚠ DISCREPANCY — [Source A] states X. [Source B] states Y. This has not been independently resolved. If you can help us stay current, please let us know."

Research and drafting are assisted by artificial intelligence, working from primary sources, including city documents, court records, and established news coverage, which are cited whenever practical. Every published article is reviewed and maintained by a human editor before and after publication; nothing on this site publishes automatically. This site is updated on an ongoing basis; each page shows when it was last checked, and readers are encouraged to consult original source materials for anything they intend to rely on or repeat elsewhere.

This site does not collect personal information through forms. The only public interactive feature is email, and addresses are handled by the site's email provider, not stored in a database here.

The editor publishes under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Editorial standards and sourcing practices apply regardless of the editor's public identity.

This site is served over HTTPS with an auto-renewing SSL certificate. It does not ask for passwords, payment information, or downloads, and it does not run third-party ads or trackers.

Some visitors using Avast or AVG antivirus software have reported a warning that the site is a phishing threat. That warning appears to be a blacklist false positive, not a verified security issue: the certificate is valid, the connection is encrypted, and no malicious content has been identified here. If you see the warning, you can safely dismiss or report it as incorrect through your antivirus app's "Report false positive" or "Site review" option.