Name the names.
We do not anonymize corporations. If a lab built a system that broke a rule, we say which lab. If an executive lied, we say which executive.
"On the record" means a real name. No "industry insiders."
DOSSIER NO. 01 — PROVENANCE
We file dispatches from the place where the nextmachine that will outthink usis being built.
Vital Truebune is an independent newsroom kept by the people who used to report to a desk they'd rather not name. We write about AI and technology for an audience that needs the story without the press release — sourced, verified, and never sanded down for the marketing team.
DOSSIER NO. 02 — METHOD
How a dispatch becomes a published story.
Every piece on the wire clears four gates before we sign it. None of them are optional. None of them are skipped because a launch is on the calendar.
- 01
Intake
Sources come in through the Secure Drop, a Signal line, or a vetted in-person meeting. Each is logged, hashed, and never stored in cleartext.
- 02
Corroboration
Two independent confirmations or one primary document. We name the type of evidence in the final piece — "documents seen," "recording heard," "on the record."
- 03
Right of reply
Every named party gets a written question list and a 72-hour reply window. No reply? We say so, in the same paragraph.
- 04
Sign and ship
Two editors sign off. A lawyer scans for liability. The source-protection wrapper is stripped before the page is rendered. Then we publish.
If a story clears these gates and still feels wrong, we hold it. We'd rather lose a day than lose a source.
DOSSIER NO. 03 — CHARTER
Three lines we won't cross.
The charter is signed by every desk head and re-signed every year. It is short on purpose. We're trying to be accountable to readers, not to a legal team.
Protect the source, not the headline.
If a story can only run by burning a source, we hold the story. The work is to make whistleblowers safe, not to make the newsroom loud.
Encryption is the default. Legal review is the floor.
Never sanitize the story.
We do not soften harm because the company that caused it is on a press list. We do not bury risk because explaining it requires a footnote.
If it's true and important, we run it with the truth intact.
DOSSIER NO. 04 — SOURCE WALL
What a source is guaranteed before they make the first call.
Read this as a contract. We publish it because publishing it is the only way a source can hold us to it.
- no logs
- Secure drop requests are wiped after first read. Retained time: 0 minutes.
- no metadata
- Stripped at the edge. We don't see originator IP, browser, or device fingerprint.
- no retaliation
- If a source is identified, the story is unpublished and counsel is engaged within 60 minutes.
- no coercion
- We don't pay for story. We don't accept gifts from sources. We don't accept rides from sources.
- no false promises
- If a story won't run, we say so within 14 days. Silence is not protection. It's a missed call.
- no exceptions
- These rules apply to people we like, too. Especially to people we like.