Ethics Policy

This policy sets out the standards Bloatberg applies to everything it publishes. It applies to every member of our editorial staff and to freelance contributors.

Independence

Editorial decisions are made by editors alone. Mostly by our Editor-in-Grand-Vision. Advertisers, investors and sponsors have no role in deciding what we cover or how. Sponsored content, if we ever publish it, will be clearly labeled as such.

Conflicts of interest

Staff may not write about companies they own shares in, unless the shares are worthless, in which case it counts as experience. Conflicts must be disclosed to an editor before work begins. So far this year, staff have disclosed four crypto wallets, eleven abandoned startups and a stake in a company that turned out to be a group chat.

Gifts and travel

We do not accept gifts worth more than a lanyard. Review units go back after testing, or stay until the company forgets, which takes about two weeks. We pay for our own travel, which is why every conference we cover is the nearest one.

Sourcing

We prefer named sources. When a source is anonymous, an editor knows who they are and the story says why. We do not pay sources. We have bought several of them coffee, and one of them a sandwich, which the standards editor is still reviewing.

Satire

Everything here is made up. When real people appear, we only use what they’ve said and done in public, usually on a podcast, usually for three hours.

If a story here ever reads as entirely plausible, please understand that this is a problem with the technology industry, not with our standards.

Corrections

We correct errors promptly and transparently. See our Corrections page.