Independence
Behavioral Wire has no commercial relationship with any company it covers. We do not accept payment, equity, travel, or anything of value in exchange for coverage, and we do not run sponsored content dressed as journalism. No source, company, or advertiser sees an article before it publishes, and no one outside the newsroom has approval over what we write or when we write it. Our obligation is to readers.
Opinion vs reporting
We keep a clear line between news and argument. Reporting is held to standards of attribution and verification and aims to establish what is true. Opinion is the editor's judgment about what it means, and it is labeled as opinion wherever it appears — in the kicker, on the page, and in the section it belongs to. Analysis that draws conclusions from reported facts is identified as such. You should never have to guess whether you are reading a finding or a view.
Conflicts of interest
The editor's research and professional affiliations in the mental health field are disclosed, and any financial position in a company we cover is disclosed on the relevant article and on the disclosures page. Where a conflict is significant enough to affect coverage, we disclose it prominently or decline the story. We would rather lose a story than launder a conflict.
Anonymous sources
We name sources whenever we can, because named information is more accountable and more useful to you. We grant anonymity only when a source has information in the public interest and a legitimate reason to fear retaliation for sharing it — not as a convenience, and not to let someone snipe at a rival without their name attached. When we use an anonymous source, we tell you why they were granted anonymity and characterize their vantage point as specifically as we can without identifying them.