Alpharetta Now is a local news site for Alpharetta and Fulton County, owned by Southern Local Media. Our about page says who we are and how we work. This page is the policy behind it: where our facts come from, how we check them, what happens when we get something wrong and how paid content is labeled.

Where our facts come from

Most of what we publish starts in a public record that anyone can see but few people have time to read:

  • City council and planning commission agendas, minutes and zoning cases
  • County commission records, property and tax records, and the Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court, Real Estate Division
  • Alpharetta Police Department releases and logs, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
  • Fulton County School District board agendas, attendance zones and calendars
  • The National Weather Service, the state department of transportation and utility outage maps
  • The Census Bureau and other federal and state data

We link to the source on every story that rests on one, and we name it in the text. When something comes from a news release, an organizer’s own listing or one interested party, the story says so. If we cannot confirm a claim in a first-hand document, we leave it out.

How we check a story

Before a story is published we check every name, date, address and number against the record it came from. A proposal is not a decision: a rezoning request, a staff recommendation or a first reading is reported as exactly that, and we report the vote when it happens. An arrest is not a conviction, and we say so. We do not publish mugshots, and we do not name juveniles, victims or witnesses.

Stories carry the Alpharetta Now Newsroom byline. We do not invent reporters or put a person’s name on work they did not do, and we never invent a quote.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix the story itself and add a dated note at the foot of the page that says what changed. We do not quietly rewrite a published story, and we do not delete one to make a mistake disappear.

To report an error, email hello@alpharettanow.com with the link and the passage you are questioning. Our corrections and complaints page explains what happens next and how fast.

Right of reply

If a story names you or your business, you can send us your response and we will add it to the story, dated and attributed, whether or not the original report was wrong.

Some of what we publish is paid for. When it is, it is labeled Sponsored above the headline, on every card that links to it and in our email, and the first line names who paid for it. Newsletter sponsors are labeled “Presented by,” and supplied releases run as “Press Release.” Paid content never leads the home page and is never presented as our own reporting.

Advertisers get what they paid for and nothing else. They do not see stories before publication and they have no say in our coverage of them, their competitors or any decision they are involved in. If we report on a business that has paid us, the story says so. Listing in our business directory is free, and nothing on this site buys a higher place in a list or a place in a story. Details are on our advertise page.

Images

We publish a photo only when we took it, licensed it, were given it for that purpose or it is openly licensed, and we credit it as the license requires. We do not republish other news outlets’ photos. A chart or map on a story is drawn from the data cited under it.

Ownership and independence

Alpharetta Now is owned and published by Southern Local Media. Editorial decisions for this site are made by its editor. We are not owned or funded by the City of Alpharetta, Fulton County, any school district, any political party or campaign, or any other body we report on. The site is free to read and is paid for by advertising and sponsorship.

Your data

What the site collects, how long we keep it and how to opt out is on our privacy page.

Contact

Corrections, complaints, right of reply and news tips all go to hello@alpharettanow.com, or use our contact page.