Editorial standards

Quick reference

• We put primary sources first, and we separate confirmed facts from company claims.
• We fact-check the claims that carry risk before we publish.
• We keep editorial decisions independent of advertising and affiliate revenue.
• We label commercial content and disclose affiliate links.
• We never sell coverage, and we never trade a recommendation for payment.
• We correct errors in the open, with a dated note on the article.

How our reporting is produced

Every piece moves through a gated process before it reaches a reader, with checks matched to its format. Explainers and guides begin with a research pass against primary, authoritative sources, captured as a record of live, citable references, and cannot advance without one. News briefs begin with the primary source itself and are verified against it before publication. Every piece is drafted to a defined editorial brief and run through automated structural and quality checks, and editorial oversight decides what we cover, how it is framed, and whether a piece is ready; nothing publishes without that sign-off. A piece can be sent back at any step. Using a repeatable, gated process is how an independent publication holds itself to the standard of a much larger one.

Accuracy and sourcing

We attribute to the source closest to a fact: a vendor's security advisory, a standards body, a regulator's filing, or a company's own announcement. We prefer the document to a summary of the document, and where a primary source exists we link it so a reader can reach the same evidence we used. When we learn of a story through another outlet's reporting, we credit the outlet that did the original work and link to it; an aggregator that merely surfaced a story is not treated as the source. A company's own blog is the primary record that it announced something, but it is promotional for any claim past that, so performance, market, and security claims are treated as claims until an independent source confirms them. When a story is still developing, we say what is known, what is claimed, and what is unconfirmed rather than presenting a moving situation as settled. If we have not independently verified something, we say so.

Fact-checking

In explainers and guides, claims that carry risk are checked against their cited sources before publication: version numbers, prices, statistics, dates, security details, and vendor specifications, and guides touching health, finance, security, or legal topics receive additional scrutiny. News briefs are checked against the primary source they report. All drafts pass automated checks for attribution accuracy, source diversity, and structural soundness. Where sources disagree, we say what is disputed rather than settling on the convenient number, and a claim we cannot stand behind does not get rounded up into a fact to make a sentence read more cleanly.

Independence and the commercial firewall

Editorial decisions at techshooked are made independently of our advertising and affiliate revenue. No advertiser, sponsor, or affiliate partner decides what we cover, how we frame it, or how a product is rated. We do not offer paid coverage of any kind, and a recommendation is never available for purchase. Reviews and comparisons are not pay-to-play: a product cannot buy its way into a recommendation or a higher position. As an independent publication, this is a line we hold ourselves to directly rather than an org chart that separates a sales floor from a newsroom, and the same standard applies to every commercial relationship we have.

How we make money

techshooked is free to read, and we fund it through a few clearly labeled commercial channels. We would rather tell you exactly how the lights stay on than leave you guessing. Each channel carries the same promise: it never changes what we cover or what we conclude. None of these channels gives anyone outside techshooked a say in our reporting.

• Display advertising. We plan to show ads served through third-party advertising networks once the site launches. None are live today. Ads will be visually distinct from editorial content and labeled where appropriate; advertisers will have no access to, and no influence over, our coverage.
• Affiliate links. We do not currently participate in any affiliate program. If we do, some product links may become affiliate links; buying through one may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and our Affiliate disclosure is updated before any such link goes live.

These relationships fund the work; they do not shape it. Commercial considerations never determine our verdicts or the order of a list, and when a list is ordered by anything other than merit, we say so. Where we compare products, the comparison is made on the merits, and a commercial relationship with a vendor never earns it a better placement. If we ever publish sponsored content, it is labeled as sponsored and is not dressed up to read like our editorial coverage. The link you click and the conclusion you read are independent of who, if anyone, pays us.

Conflicts of interest

Affiliate links never steer our picks, and we do not accept payment, free products, travel, or any other consideration in exchange for coverage or a favorable verdict. We also step back from coverage where a personal financial stake would compromise it. Where a relationship could reasonably be read as a conflict, we disclose it, and if we reference a company connected to techshooked or to its publisher, we say so plainly. These rules apply to everyone who contributes to techshooked.

Authorship and bylines

techshooked publishes under named beat desks, each accountable for the work that runs under its byline, and under the techshooked News Desk. We organize coverage this way so that responsibility for a piece is always clear. There is more on how we work on our About page.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it in the open. Substantive factual corrections are noted on the article itself, with the date of the correction. Our full approach is in our Correction policy. To report an error, please contact us.

Accountability

techshooked is published by Noven Media, which stands behind the work we publish. If we fall short of the standards on this page, the way to hold us to them is the same way we fix errors: tell us, and we will respond. We welcome scrutiny of our work, and we would rather a reader challenge a claim than let an error stand.

Updates to these standards

These standards are a living document. As our process and our coverage grow, we will revise this page and update the date below. Material changes are reflected here rather than made quietly.