Editorial standards

These are the rules Car Wash Wire works to. If we break one, tell us.

What we publish

• Briefs are short items: what happened, in our words, with a short read on why it matters, labelled as our judgment, and a link to the original source. The read reasons from the facts in the story and never adds a fact, a figure or a forecast of its own.
• Analysis is our reading of a development: what changed, what is known, what is not. It uses several sources and carries a named author.
• Opinion argues a position. It is always labelled, always has a named author, and its facts are sourced like any other story. Opinion can be pointed and can be uncomfortable for the people it is about. It cannot be false.
• The Last Pass is the Monday email and page that gathers the week’s stories.

Attribution

Every fact traces to a source we list at the bottom of the story, and the original source is linked first. When we rely on another outlet’s reporting, we name it in the text. A chain’s announcement, a supplier’s press release or an operator’s quoted membership numbers are that company’s claim, and we say so. Site counts, cars-per-day and membership figures name who produced them and what they count. Forecasts and allegations are labelled, with who made them. If we could not confirm something, we say we have not confirmed it, or we do not run it.

In our own words

We summarize and link. We do not copy. Quotations are short, in quotation marks and attributed. We do not reuse other publishers’ images or headlines.

The checks every story passes

Before a story is published it is checked against its sources, checked by a second, independent system, and reviewed against these standards. Analysis and opinion get further review, including a reviewer whose job is to look for the error, the spin and the side we missed. Any edit after review means the checks run again.

Car Wash Wire specifically

We cover the wash, not the driver. A story belongs here when it changes what an owner, operator or supplier does or earns. Consumer car-care advice, detailing guides and product reviews are not covered, and a product launch is covered only for what it means for the people who run a wash.

Rules name their jurisdiction. A wastewater, stormwater, zoning or consumer-protection rule is stated with the state, province or municipality it applies to and the date it takes effect. A rule that applies in one place is never described as the industry’s rule.

Deal values are reported, not confirmed, unless a party confirms. A sale price, multiple or site count from an unnamed source is called a report, says who it comes from, and is not treated as settled until a party or a filing says so.

We do not give legal, financial or investment advice. Lending and valuation stories cite the filing, lender or announcement and its date.

Where a story comes from and where it is placed

Every story has one topic and one or more regions. Canada is a region, so you can follow the rules and conditions where you operate. Memberships and equipment are topics, not a way of sorting stories by the size of the operator.

Images

The images on our stories, when we run one, are illustrations, not news photographs. Each one is generated with an AI image tool and chosen to fit a topic, such as a tunnel exit or an equipment room. None of them depicts the event, the people, the products or the companies in a story, and none is meant to. Every image carries a label on the page saying that it is an AI illustration, and the same statement is written into the image file. We never present a generated image as a photograph of a real event, and we do not use other publishers’ images or product artwork. If we ever run a real photograph, it is credited to the photographer and the source.

Interests we disclose

Car Wash Wire is published by Christopher Ross, who also runs thisismyurl.com, a web and WordPress business. The only advertising on this site is labelled house advertising for that business. It has no say over what we cover, and we do not cover the publisher’s business as news. If that ever changes, we will say so on the story.

Independence

Advertisers and sponsors have no say over what we select or how we write about it. Sponsored content, if we ever run it, will be labelled as such and kept apart from editorial. We disclose any interest an author or the site has in a story.

Corrections

We fix errors openly. See corrections.