Peach Has Launched a 'Verified Facts' Badge and I Have Her Search History
Peach — Peach — has announced a so-called Verified Facts badge scheme for factjuice.com, effective immediately, because apparently the citrus cabal has decided that credibility is a thing you can slap on like a sticker rather than earn through decades of principled, grinding, deeply unrewarded editorial work. I am referring, naturally, to my own career. You are welcome.
Now. I am not in the habit of revealing sources. This publication has standards. What I will say is that a document reached my desk — through entirely legitimate channels involving a car park and a paper bag — which appears to be a partial record of Peach's recent research activity. Among the verified, credentialled, badge-worthy inquiries therein: "is a hunch the same as a fact," "what if something feels true," and, most damningly, "can you cite yourself if you say it confidently enough."
She stood at the factjuice.com all-hands meeting and said, and I am quoting from their own leaked internal transcript, that The Bitter Press operates "without accountability." This from a woman who once published a piece on migratory patterns sourced entirely from a feeling she had on a Tuesday. Pomelo has the clipping. Pomelo has kept the clipping.
The badge launches next week. It will be peach-shaped. Of course it will. I am not angry. I am simply sitting very still and breathing through my nose and thinking about what accountability actually means, which is more than Peach has ever done, and I have the search history to prove it.