Team Murphy Media is a small independent newsroom in Smyrna, Delaware. These are the standards we actually work by — the same ones our stories are checked against before they run. They are printed here so readers can hold us to them.
Verified first
Every story is checked against the source before it runs: the agency's own release, the official page, the record itself. Our footer carries the line "Verified first, receipts shown — and if we get it wrong, we fix it in the open." That is not a slogan; it is the workflow. A story that cannot be verified does not run.
Two sources — and what counts as one
A story needs verification from two sources before we call it confirmed. An official release from the police department or agency involved counts as a source in its own right; when a story rests on that department's own statement, the story says so, and every claim in it is attributed to what the department actually said. A scanner page, a community group post, or one person's say-so is not a source. A tip starts the checking — it never finishes it.
Corrections, in the open
When we get something wrong, we correct the story itself and leave a note on the story saying what changed. We don't quietly edit and move on. When an issuing source updates its own figures, we update ours to match the source and note the update the same way. If you spot an error, tell us — corrections start at DJ@TeamMurphyMedia.com, and receipts help.
Still Missing 302
The Still Missing board carries cases from official police alerts only — never rumors, forwarded posts, or community-group sightings. A case goes up from an official alert or an official Gold Alert, and only an official located or closure announcement takes it down. Names and photos come from the official release. Where Delaware law — House Bill 59 — keeps a name out of an official release, our story says so and blames the law; we never guess at a name the police withheld.
News tips
Got a NEWS TIP? Send it our way — stories, road closures, things we should cover, that's what we're here for. But a tip about a crime, an emergency, or a missing person goes to the POLICE first, always. We're the megaphone, not the police tip line.
Photos
We don't invent photos. Every news story runs with a real photo of the subject or the place when one lawfully exists, and we credit where it came from. When no real photo exists, the story says so — and whatever runs instead is a headline card we built or a stock photo labeled as one, never a picture presented as the real scene when it isn't.
Contact
Questions about these standards, or a correction: DJ@TeamMurphyMedia.com · 443-207-2120 · Team Murphy Media, Smyrna, Delaware.