Source ladder
How a document climbs from raw receipt to published copy — rungs, holds, and fix notices.
The ladder exists so readers can see our method without reading internal logs. Nothing skips a rung except essential portal cookies and legal disclosures.
Seven rungs
Rung 01 · Receipt
Document arrives by email, official portal download, or on-record call. Time, channel, and recipient initials are logged on the clipboard sheet.
Rung 02 · Identity
Issuer verified against domain, letterhead, or published register. Anonymous tips are not climbed beyond this rung.
Rung 03 · Extraction
Relevant passages extracted verbatim where possible. Numbers and dates copied twice by separate editors.
Rung 04 · Context
Planning area, affected residents, and prior notices checked. Context paragraphs cite only verified documents.
Rung 05 · Photo match
If the Photo Desk supplies a frame, caption time must fall within the same evening as the document date unless archive use is labelled.
Rung 06 · Second read
A section editor who did not write the draft reads against the source. Initials and time recorded on the proof.
Rung 07 · Index
Published to the back-issue room with beat label, source list, and fix-notice URL slot. Corrections replace the indexed entry, not silent edits.
Holds and releases
A document may rest on a rung while awaiting clerk callback or organiser confirmation. Holds are not published as teasers. When a hold releases, the piece climbs from the held rung — earlier rungs are not repeated in the public record.
Fix notices attach when a published document is superseded. The fix notice cites the replacement reference and timestamps the change. Readers find fix links beside the original index card.
Questions about verification method may be sent to [email protected]. We do not disclose internal logs that contain third-party personal data.
Editors initials on rung six must differ from the drafting editor — a second pair of eyes, not a rubber stamp. Photo match rung five may send a frame back to the Photo Desk if caption time and document date diverge without an archive label.
Readers who cite our method in their own correspondence should link to this page rather than paraphrase rungs from memory — the public ladder matches internal logs as of 13 August 2026.
Examples by document class
Municipal PDF. Receipt via town council portal, identity via letterhead domain, extraction of closure dates, context paragraph naming affected blocks, optional Photo Desk frame of notice board, second read by section editor, index with fix-notice slot.
LTA advisory. Receipt via official advisory page, identity via lta.gov.sg host, extraction of road names and times, context only after on-site check when desk policy requires, photo optional, second read, index same night when verified.
Community schedule. Receipt via organiser email, identity via callback to published contact, extraction of timings verbatim, context noting prior year schedule if relevant, photo rarely, second read, index unless embargo applies.
Audit trail
Each rung initial and timestamp appears on the clipboard scan filed nightly. Auditors — internal or reader-appointed via formal request — may review methodology description on this page without accessing third-party personal data in logs.
When a fix notice publishes, the ladder for the replacement document is not re-described publicly; the fix notice cites the new reference and timestamps the correction.
Hold duration is not capped by clock time — only by verification need. Editors may release a hold past midnight if clerk confirmation arrives before desk close.
Reader-facing transparency
This public ladder mirrors internal rungs as of 13 August 2026. Internal-only shortcuts do not exist — if a piece is indexed, all seven rungs were cleared or a fix notice explains the exception.
Third-party press releases are not climbed unless accompanied by verifiable primary documents. Marketing PDFs alone stop at identity rung pending clerk or agency confirmation.
Rung five photo match may be waived when beat policy marks a story as document-only — waiver is initialled on proof, not implied by absence of image.
Readers requesting rung-by-rung status on unpublished tips will receive methodology text only — not internal log excerpts with third-party data.
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