Our masthead standards · Last reviewed July 2026

This is the short, formal version of our standards. The working detail — how a story actually gets sourced and edited — lives on our How We Work page. This page is about the rules of the house: who owns us, how we pay the bills, and where the lines are.

Ownership and funding

Main Street Dollars is an independent publication. We make money from advertising and, on some pages, affiliate links — a reader clicks through and buys something, and we may earn a commission. Advertising and affiliate revenue keep the lights on. They do not buy coverage.

The wall between ads and editorial

• Advertisers and affiliate partners never see a story before it publishes, and can’t request, edit, delay, or kill one.
• We don’t choose topics to please a sponsor, and a company being an advertiser earns it no softer coverage — and no harsher.
• Anything paid for is labeled as advertising or sponsored, plainly, where you’ll see it.

Accuracy is the floor, not the goal

Every factual claim traces to a primary source, and that source is linked in the piece. We verify figures against the agency that issued them, not against another outlet’s summary. When something can’t be confirmed from the public record, we say so instead of guessing. Mistakes are fixed in the open — see Corrections.

On artificial intelligence

We use AI tools to help draft some explanatory articles. We do not use them to invent facts, quotes, people, or numbers. Every AI-assisted piece is fact-checked against primary sources and edited by a person before it runs, and it carries a disclosure line. A human decides what we cover and whether it’s right — always.

Conflicts and independence

Our writers don’t accept payment, gifts, trips, or perks from the companies and agencies they cover, and they disclose any personal stake in a subject to their editor. We report on money; we don’t take sides in it.

Fairness

When our reporting reflects on a company or agency, we give the relevant facts in context and, where a response matters, we represent their position accurately. We’d rather be plain and fair than loud.

Questions

Reach the newsroom at [email protected], or flag an error at [email protected].