Our Standards
What you won't see from SpokaneWire: private medical calls, crisis or suicide calls, home addresses (we use the hundred block), or map pins we haven't verified. We fix mistakes in public. We cover what affects your commute, your neighborhood and your safety, not people's worst moments. Get it all calmly at 7 AM in The Dispatch.
Here's what that means in practice.
What we cover
- Traffic and roads: crashes that block lanes, closures, detours, and conditions that affect your drive.
- Fire: structure and brush fires, smoke, and evacuations or road impacts.
- Public safety: police activity that affects the public, such as closures, shelter-in-place orders, and searches in a neighborhood.
- Weather and air quality: forecasts, warnings, and AQI from official sources, credited and unaltered.
- Local news and public records: one original story each week, based on public documents.
What we withhold
- Private medical calls. We don't post them. When a medical incident has a public impact, such as a road closure, a multi-agency or mass-casualty scene, or a public hazard, we may cover it. We report the impact and the general area only, never patients' names or exact addresses.
- Crisis and suicide calls. We don't post them, ever. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
- Home addresses. We use the hundred block (for example, "1200 block of W. Main") or the nearest intersection, never a house number.
- Juveniles. We don't name minors or show their faces.
- Victims. We don't name or identify victims of crimes or crashes. That includes sexual-assault and domestic-violence victims, whom we never identify.
- Unconfirmed names. We don't name people based on scanner traffic or social media. The only people we name in public-safety stories are adult suspects who have been formally charged, from official records. We never name victims, witnesses, juveniles, or the subjects of medical or crisis calls.
Maps and locations
- A map pin appears only when we've verified the location (an intersection, a highway milepost, or a public or commercial address).
- When the location is approximate, we shade the general area or show the neighborhood name instead of a pin.
- We never use a default or "city center" pin.
Corrections
- We fix mistakes in public. A corrected post or story is labeled "Correction" with a short note on what changed and when.
- We don't quietly delete posts to hide errors. If a post has to come down for privacy or safety reasons, we say so.
- See an error? Email founder@spokanewire.com with the link and what's wrong. We aim to review reports promptly and fix confirmed errors as soon as we can.
Sponsors
- Sponsors never influence coverage. They don't see stories before publication and can't change, remove, or delay them.
- Sponsored placements are always labeled (for example, "presented by").
- Bail-bond and DUI-related sponsors never appear next to a named person. Their placements stay in general public-safety sections and page footers.
- Sponsors don't get special treatment in news involving them.
How we use what you share
Tips are welcome at spokanewire.com/tip. Before we publish a tip, we verify it with official or public sources.
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— SpokaneWire