Editorial Policy.
The principles guiding story selection, reporting and the publication of PLOT.'s investigations.
Updated — First editorial cycle — 2026
Mission
PLOT. is an independent editorial laboratory devoted to investigation, data and visual storytelling. We publish stories that seek to understand complex subjects of public interest with rigour, context and clarity.
Every investigation is treated as a process: it starts from a hypothesis, gathers verifiable evidence, goes through review and is published together with its methodology.
Independence
The laboratory does not accept interference from sources, advertisers, funders or partners over its editorial content. No institutional support, sponsorship or funding conditions the choice of stories, how an investigation is framed, or the decision to publish.
When a project receives outside support, that relationship is disclosed visibly in the publication itself.
Story criteria
PLOT.'s investigations are selected according to explicit criteria:
- public relevance of the subject and its potential to affect collective rights;
- existence of documentary evidence or data that allow verification;
- possibility of an original contribution relative to what has already been published;
- fit with the laboratory's capabilities in investigation, data and visual narrative.
Reporting
Reporting combines public records, freedom-of-information requests, databases, interviews and direct observation. Every factual claim published must be supported by documentary evidence, an interview record or verifiable data.
People and institutions mentioned critically are approached before publication and their responses are incorporated into the text.
Sources
- Sources are identified whenever possible.
- Anonymity is granted only when there is a concrete risk to the source's safety, employment or physical integrity, and this is flagged to the reader.
- PLOT. does not pay for information and does not accept material whose origin cannot be editorially assessed.
- Confidentiality commitments made to a source are fully honoured.
Data and visualisations
Databases used in investigations are described in terms of origin, time frame and known limitations. Transformations applied — cleaning, cross-referencing, aggregation — are recorded and described in the story's methodology.
Charts and maps follow the same standards of honesty applied to text: scales are not manipulated, cuts are not chosen to exaggerate conclusions, and uncertainty is made explicit.
Publication and review
Before publication, every investigation goes through fact-checking, data review and copy-editing. Reference materials — documents, datasets and methodology — are made available to the reader whenever source protection allows it.
Conflicts of interest
Any personal, professional or financial relationship that could affect the perceived independence of an investigation is disclosed in the publication or leads the laboratory to step away from the subject.