This guide describes how Circuit Bulletin writes: our voice, our approach to headlines, the spellings and capitalisations we standardise on, and how we handle quotes, money, and inclusive language. It is meant to keep our writing clear and consistent without flattening the personality of individual writers. It complements our Editorial Guidelines and Ethics Policy, and applies to staff and guest contributors alike.
Voice and tone
We aim to be informed, precise, and sceptical, and to be genuinely readable while we're at it. We explain complex things clearly without dumbing them down, and we treat claims, whether from a startup, a government, or a research lab, with healthy scrutiny rather than credulity.
Wit is welcome. We're happy to be dry, playful, or pointed where it suits the story. But tone has to fit the subject. When we cover harm, death, crime, safety, law, or security incidents, we drop the levity and write with the seriousness those subjects deserve. Being clever at the expense of someone's suffering is never worth it.
Spelling and language
We use British English as our house standard: colour, organise, defence, licence (noun), and so on. Some guest authors write in US or other variants of English, and that's fine; we keep each piece internally consistent rather than forcing a rewrite.
Regardless of the writer's variant, we always preserve US or original spelling in:
- company and organisation names (for example Meta Platforms Labor Organization);
- product and brand names;
- direct quotations, which we never re-spell;
- legal terms, statutes, and the formal titles of documents.
Headlines
A headline's first job is to be accurate. It should tell the reader what the story actually says and never promise more than the article delivers. We don't do clickbait, misleading questions, manufactured suspense, or "this one weird trick" nonsense. If a headline poses a question, the article must genuinely answer it.
Within those limits, headlines can have character. A playful, sharp, or funny headline is fine as long as it's honest and clear. We'd rather be memorable than breathless, and we'd always rather be clear than clever.
Capitalisation and preferred spellings
For subheadings and headlines we use sentence case, not Title Case. Beyond that, we standardise on the following house spellings:
- Internet, not internet; Web, not web
- AI, Wi-Fi
- email, not e-mail
- cybersecurity, not cyber security
- open source, not open-source
- Big Tech, metaverse, blockchain
- Mastodon, Fediverse
- bitcoin, always lowercase, both as the technology and the currency
Company and product names
We render company, product, and brand names as the most reputable outlets style them, or as the company itself prefers where that's well established. That includes internal capitalisation and lowercase openings. For example: iPhone, macOS, GitHub, YouTube, OpenAI, Nvidia, ARM, Meta, Google, and Alphabet. When in doubt, follow the usage of established, authoritative publications rather than a company's marketing department.
Money and currency
We report figures in whichever currency is under discussion, so a German fine is quoted in euros and a UK contract in pounds. To keep numbers meaningful for an international readership, we always provide conversions in US dollars (USD), pounds sterling (GBP), and euros (EUR). If the original figure is already in one of those three, we give the other two. We note the basis or date of a conversion where exchange rates matter to the point being made.
Quotations and attribution
We quote people accurately. We don't clean up quotes, fix grammar, or add emphasis silently. If we tidy a verbal stumble, trim a quote, or add italics for emphasis, we make that clear, for instance with "(emphasis added)" or by flagging the edit. Meaning is never altered. Where we can, we link to the primary source of a quote or claim, be it a filing, a transcript, a paper, or an official statement, so readers can check it for themselves. Attribution follows the practice set out in our Editorial Guidelines.
Inclusive language
We write about people with respect. We use inclusive language and avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person's race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or to any physical or mental illness or disability.
We also avoid mentioning those characteristics at all unless they're genuinely relevant to the story. Details of a person's race, colour, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or physical or mental illness or disability are included only when they matter to what we're reporting, not as incidental colour.
