Right of Reply Policy
CourtNews gives relevant people and institutions a fair opportunity to respond when criticism, allegations, or materially disputed facts are central to a story. Here's how that process works.
Last Updated: May 22, 2026
When We Seek a Response
If a CourtNews story includes criticism, allegations, serious factual dispute, or materially adverse claims about a person or institution, we aim to seek a response before publication — when feasible and when doing so doesn't compromise the reporting, source safety, or legitimate public-interest work.
The goal isn't to hand editorial control to the subject of a story. The goal is to test our reporting against relevant rebuttal, correction, or context before we publish — because that's what fair journalism looks like.
How Outreach Is Handled
The method and timing of outreach varies with the story. CourtNews may contact a subject or their representative by email, phone, public contact channel, legal counsel, or other reasonable means — depending on the nature of the allegation and how quickly the story needs to move.
A reasonable opportunity to respond doesn't always mean an unlimited one. Fast-moving court developments, breaking legal news, and public-safety stories may require shorter response windows than feature investigations or longform profiles.
What to Send If You're Seeking a Reply or Correction
If you're contacting CourtNews in response to published or pending coverage, please include the article URL or headline, the specific claim you dispute, the factual basis for your objection, any supporting documents you want reviewed, and the best contact information for follow-up.
General denials aren't very useful on their own. The more specific you are about what is wrong, incomplete, misleading, or outdated — and why — the more effectively our editorial team can review your request.
Post-Publication Responses
After publication, a person or institution that believes context is missing or materially wrong may contact the newsroom. Substantive responses may result in a clarification, correction, update note, follow-up story, or — if the reporting holds — no change.
CourtNews may publish or summarize a substantive response when doing so materially helps readers understand a dispute or the underlying evidentiary record.
What This Policy Does Not Guarantee
A right-of-reply request does not guarantee publication of a full statement, removal of accurate reporting, or advance editorial approval by the subject of a story.
It does mean CourtNews reviews the request seriously, compares it against the available evidence, and responds according to our editorial standards and corrections process.
Urgent Matters & Legal Sensitivity
Where a story involves active legal proceedings, regulatory matters, allegations of misconduct, or reputationally sensitive claims, CourtNews handles outreach carefully and documents the response process in the newsroom's working record.
A reply request should improve factual accuracy — not become leverage to pressure our newsroom into weakening reporting that is properly supported by the evidence.
Submit a Response Request
To request a right of reply or raise a concern about published coverage: