Send SEM A Tip
How to share news tips and sensitive material with Second Exodus Media
Do you have firsthand information, documents, photographs, video, records or other material you believe the public should know about?
Second Exodus Media accepts credible news tips involving government, public money, national security, business, institutions, local communities and the people affected by their decisions.
We regularly review submissions, but submitting information does not guarantee a response, investigation or publication.
Evidence first. Conclusions second.
ANATOMY OF A GOOD TIP
The most useful tips concern matters of legitimate public interest and provide specific information that SEM can independently investigate.
Strong tips may include firsthand knowledge, documents, photographs, video, records, data or the names of people who may be able to corroborate the information.
Tell us, when possible:
- What happened?
- How do you know?
- When and where did it happen?
- What records or other evidence may exist?
- Who else may be able to verify the information?
A tip does not have to prove the entire story.
One credible piece of information may give our newsroom a place to begin investigating.
These channels are intended for news tips—not press releases, advertising solicitations or general website feedback.
BEFORE REACHING OUT
No communication method can be guaranteed completely secure or anonymous.
The precautions appropriate for you depend on the sensitivity of the information and your individual circumstances.
Before contacting SEM about particularly sensitive information, consider whether the device, email account, network or cloud service you use could identify you or retain copies of your communications.
If protecting your identity is important, tell SEM before providing sensitive documents or identifying information.
Do not break the law, access computer systems without authorization, steal records, defeat security controls or place yourself or another person at risk to obtain information for Second Exodus Media.
If you already possess information you believe is newsworthy, you may contact SEM so our newsroom can determine an appropriate way to review it.
Regular email is convenient, but ordinary email may not be appropriate for highly sensitive information or circumstances in which revealing your identity as a source could place you at risk.
For general news tips, documents, photographs and other newsroom correspondence:
If your information is particularly sensitive, consider contacting SEM before transmitting the underlying documents or identifying information through ordinary email.
Do not assume that deleting an email eliminates copies that may exist on devices, servers, backups or other systems.
TRADITIONAL MAIL
You may send letters, documents or other physical material to:
Second Exodus Media — Newsroom
ATTN: News Tips
P.O. Box 15528
Washington, DC 20019
If you do not want a return address displayed on the outside of an envelope, you may omit it. If you want SEM to contact you, include an appropriate contact method inside your correspondence.
Postal mail should not be considered a guarantee of anonymity or confidentiality.
Do not send original material that you cannot afford to lose unless necessary. SEM cannot guarantee that submitted physical material will be returned.
DOCUMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHS & VIDEO
Original material is preferable whenever possible.
If you provide documents, photographs, audio or video, tell us—when you safely can—what the material shows, approximately when and where it was created, how you obtained it and whether it has been edited, altered or previously published.
SEM may attempt to authenticate submitted material using available methods including metadata, public records, geolocation, satellite imagery, independent witnesses, official records and other evidence.
Submitting material does not guarantee that SEM will use or publish it.
CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES
Confidentiality and technological anonymity are not the same thing.
If you are requesting confidentiality, discuss that with SEM before disclosing sensitive identifying information whenever possible.
SEM considers requests for source confidentiality based on the circumstances, the source’s knowledge, the credibility and importance of the information and the public interest.
When SEM agrees to protect a source’s identity, we take that commitment seriously and work to minimize unnecessary disclosure of identifying information.
However, no communication method can eliminate every technological, legal or other risk, and SEM cannot guarantee protection against every circumstance in which a source’s identity could potentially become known.
MILITARY & NATIONAL SECURITY MATERIAL
Second Exodus Media welcomes credible information from service members, veterans, military families, civilian employees, contractors and others with firsthand knowledge concerning the U.S. military, defense contracting, veterans’ affairs and national security.
Public interest does not necessarily require publication of every detail SEM receives.
Before publishing sensitive military or national-security information, SEM will consider whether disclosure could unnecessarily reveal current troop locations, operational plans, security procedures, intelligence methods, vulnerabilities or other information that could place people or ongoing operations at risk.
We can investigate something without publishing everything we receive.
SEM’s purpose is accountability—not unnecessarily exposing operational information that could endanger people or missions.
PAYMENT FOR INFORMATION
Second Exodus Media does not pay sources for news tips, interviews, documents or confidential information.
Payment can create questions about a source’s motivations and the reliability of information.
SEM’s reporting decisions are based on newsworthiness, evidence, verification and the public interest.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU CONTACT SEM
Receiving information does not mean SEM will automatically publish it.
Our newsroom may attempt to independently verify information through documents, public records, interviews, data, photographs, official responses and other available evidence.
We distinguish between what a source knows firsthand and what the source learned from someone else.
When appropriate, individuals, government agencies, companies and organizations discussed in our reporting will be given an opportunity to respond.
Submitting information does not guarantee a response, investigation or publication.
SEM does not publish information simply because someone submitted it.
Verification comes first.
OUR COMMITMENT
Second Exodus Media does not exist simply to repeat the day’s headlines.
We follow the systems behind them.
Policy. Money. Institutions. Consequences.
We ask:
What changed?
Who made the decision?
Where did the money go?
Who benefits?
Who bears the consequences?
What does the evidence actually establish?
Our responsibility is not to begin with a conclusion and search for evidence to support it.
We follow the evidence wherever it leads.
CONTACT THE SEM NEWSROOM
MAIL
Second Exodus Media — Newsroom
ATTN: News Tips
P.O. Box 15528
Washington, DC 20019
For particularly sensitive information, consider contacting SEM before transmitting documents or identifying information through ordinary email.
SECOND EXODUS MEDIA
Fact-Based News • Independent Analysis • Meaningful Conversations
EVIDENCE FIRST. CONCLUSIONS SECOND.
Have information? Help us follow what happens next.
