About The ClawFiles

Public records, made usable.

The ClawFiles is an independently operated, source-cited investigative publication covering southeastern Massachusetts through the records that show how public decisions are made.

The work centers on deeds, permits, agendas, minutes, contracts, court filings, corporate and nonprofit records, campaign-finance filings, public expenditures, and public-record responses. Complex relationships are presented through chronologies, maps, and case files so readers can inspect the source trail themselves.

Three distinct functions

Independent reporting

Stories, maps, and case files are selected, researched, written, and published independently. No client, donor, sponsor, source, or subject controls what gets covered or receives the right to approve copy before publication.

Paid research services

The ClawFiles may accept limited, defined document-research assignments. That work operates under a written scope and is not presented as independent journalism. Potential engagements receive a conflict review; work that would compromise current or planned coverage is declined, narrowed, or disclosed.

Community environmental monitoring

Community monitoring is a separate public-interest program. Each project has its own question, budget, methods, participant rules, privacy protections, limitations, and public report. Donors do not purchase a finding or control publication.

Read the full standards and disclosures →

Methodology

The reporting follows a fixed claim ladder.

1. Primary records first — deeds, permits, contracts, agendas, minutes, public-record responses, and court filings.
2. Laboratory, sensor, or technical results where the method and limitations can be evaluated.
3. Official regulatory and health guidance for context.
4. Firsthand accounts with consent and appropriate privacy protection.
5. Causation only when the available evidence supports it.

Unresolved questions are identified as questions. Allegations remain allegations. A line on a map establishes only the relationship described in its legend; it does not, by itself, establish misconduct, causation, or legal liability.

Unpublished work and confidentiality

The public site contains only material cleared for publication. Source identities, unpublished leads, private working maps, draft hypotheses, planned records requests, client-confidential material, monitoring participants, and exact private monitoring locations remain off the public site.

A general email is not a secure or privileged channel. Sensitive records should not be sent until an appropriate transfer method has been arranged.

Ethics, Corrections & Response

If a published item contains an error, The ClawFiles corrects it, identifies the material change, and dates the correction.

If you are named or materially described in a story and believe the facts are wrong, send the specific disputed statement and the record that corrects it to tips@theclawfiles.com. Responses are evaluated against the same source standards as the original work.

Republish Our Reporting

Local outlets may republish eligible ClawFiles journalism under the stated Creative Commons attribution terms. Cite the original URL and do not materially alter the reporting. Client deliverables, private research materials, monitoring datasets, and project documents are not automatically covered by that article license.