Standards

Editorial standards

These rules apply to every guide, listing, and newsletter issue we publish. They are public so you can hold us to them.

Independent by default

Editorial coverage is never sold. No business can purchase a recommendation, a ranking, or a mention in a guide.

Every guide is written from first-hand visits in Tacoma. We do not rewrite press releases or aggregate other publishers.

Sponsored placements from the Business Media Portal are visually distinct, labeled, and excluded from editorial rankings.

Every guide carries an author, a reviewer, and a last-updated date. Guides older than twelve months are re-verified or retired.

Errors are corrected on the page with a note explaining what changed and when.

Tools may assist with research and copy editing. Published editorial judgment, reporting, and recommendations are human.

Facts that change — hours, admission, parking, transit, accessibility, event dates — are held to a stricter rule than the rest of our writing.

01A fact that changes is published only with a named authoritative source and a verification date inside its freshness window — 90 days for hours and admission, 180 days for parking, transit, and accessibility.
02A “Verified” label is derived from that record, never typed in by an editor. If the record lapses, the label and the fact both disappear from the page automatically.
03Information supplied by an operator or a business is labeled as supplied, and never presented as independent verification.
04Unverified facts are omitted, not hedged. We link you to the operator instead of guessing on their behalf.
05Every published claim traces to a source you can open and check yourself.

Got something wrong? Tell us on the corrections page.

Nothing publishes until a second editor has signed off on every line below.