How this works

The Austin Bulletin covers one thing: what is being built in Austin, and who is asking permission to build it. Every significant construction permit, zoning case, site plan, and liquor license filed in the city is read. Most produce nothing. The ones that matter become a short story.

Where the reporting comes from

Every story on this site is built from public records published by the City of Austin and the State of Texas. Each story links to the record it came from. Nothing here is based on an interview, a tip, or an anonymous source.

How stories are produced

Stories are drafted by software. A series of automated processes reads new public records each publishing day, scores them for newsworthiness, gathers the filing history at that address, drafts a summary, and then checks that summary back against the source documents. A separate verification step discards any claim the records do not support.

Nothing publishes automatically. A human reads every story and approves it before it appears on this site.

What this site will not do

• It does not name private individuals. Business entities, developers, and public officials are named; a homeowner who filed a remodel permit is not.
• It does not speculate about intent. Records show what was filed, not why.
• It does not evaluate whether a development is good, needed, or harmful.

Corrections

Errors are corrected on the story itself with a dated note, and every correction is listed on the corrections page. Every version of every story is preserved in the site's public revision history.