Editorial Policy.

# Editorial Policy

The Chapbook is committed to honest, careful, human-written American storytelling. This page explains how we work.

Our principles

**We honor our subjects.** Every person who appears in a Chapbook piece has, where reasonably possible, been interviewed by us directly. We respect their requests about how they are named, described, and quoted. When a subject asks for privacy on a specific detail, we honor that request without qualification.

**We write slowly.** Our pieces are long. Our reporting is patient. We sit with people for hours, sometimes days, and we let the conversations develop at the pace they require. We do not rush. We do not pad.

**We do not sensationalize.** The Chapbook publishes true stories of ordinary American life. We do not embellish for effect. We do not invent quotes. We do not compress separate events into single dramatic moments. When the truth is small and quiet, we publish it small and quiet.

**We are not clickbait.** Our headlines describe the story. They do not tease, deceive, or manipulate. Readers who click on a Chapbook piece get exactly what the headline promised.

**We do not pre-judge investigations.** When a piece touches on an active legal or law-enforcement matter, we report only what is on the record and what the relevant parties have given us permission to share.

**We protect vulnerable subjects.** When a piece involves mental health, addiction, domestic violence, grief, or other sensitive circumstances, we exercise particular care in how we describe events. We do not provide methodological detail that could cause harm. We point readers, where appropriate, to professional resources.

Sources and verification

Every Chapbook piece is grounded in interviews with the people involved and, where applicable, in public records (court filings, deed records, military discharge documents, obituary records). We verify ages, dates, places, and key facts. When we cannot verify a detail, we either omit it or describe its uncertainty.

We do not use anonymous sources for any factual claim. When a subject requests anonymity, we either rework the piece to honor the request or we do not publish it.

Corrections

If you believe we have made a factual error, please write to us at the email address on our Contact page with Correction in the subject line. We investigate every correction request and publish a clear correction note when warranted.

AI and human authorship

The Chapbook is written by humans. Our editor, Ethan Walker, writes every piece personally. We do not use AI to generate our narratives. We may, on occasion, use AI tools for routine production tasks (image generation for illustrations, copy editing for typos), but the writing itself is human work.

Funding and advertising

The Chapbook is funded by display advertising. We do not accept sponsored content, paid placements, or affiliate arrangements that influence what we cover or how we cover it. Our editorial choices are independent of our advertisers.

— The Chapbook