These standards guide how Chico Observer selects and presents links, summaries, and any original articles published on the site.
Make the source clear
Each linked news item should identify its publisher and provide a direct route to the original report. Readers should be able to distinguish reporting, opinion, analysis, and announcements.
Select for relevance and context
Selection considers the subject, the source’s connection to the information, and the report’s relevance to readers. Local, national, and international stories may appear alongside finance, sports, science and technology, and entertainment coverage.
A place in the directory does not endorse every position taken by a publisher. Different sources can provide different evidence and interpretations. Material disagreements should remain visible when they affect a summary.
Write summaries in original language
Summaries should describe the main development accurately, preserve meaningful qualifications, and use original wording. Readers should follow the source link for the full article. Brief quotations, when necessary, should be clearly marked and attributed.
Headlines and summaries should preserve uncertainty where it exists and keep findings within the scope supported by the source.
Keep dates in context
The date of a report may differ from the date of the event it describes. Those distinctions should be retained when they affect the reader’s understanding. Older reporting should be identified when included for background.
Distinguish the portal’s own material
An original Chico Observer article should be identified separately from linked reporting and include the relevant sources. Illustrations and generated images should be labelled when readers might mistake them for documentary evidence.
Correct meaningful errors
Corrections should address inaccurate summaries, attribution, dates, and links. When a correction materially changes an item’s meaning, a visible explanation should describe what changed. Significant changes to a source report should prompt a review of the corresponding summary.