.REPORT Domain Extension

Why choose a .REPORT domain?

A report is not a news story: it carries a signature. Somebody wrote it, somebody answers for it, and the method can be examined. That is exactly the opposite of a story circulating with no identifiable author. That accepted responsibility is what gives the word its value — and what should be foregrounded: the method, the sources, and what you could not establish.

The signature

Author, role, date, version. A report with no identifiable author is not a report: it is a document.

The annual report

Results, governance, highlights, accounts. An obligation for many organisations, and a chance to do better than the minimum.

The data

Tables, series, margins of error, downloadable datasets. Publishing the raw data makes your conclusions contestable, and therefore credible.

The method

Sample, period, acknowledged limits, conflicts of interest. The section serious readers go to, and often the first one they open.

Reporting something

“To report” also means to flag: an incident, an abuse, a breach. A second sense that suits protected disclosure mechanisms.

What it actually changes

• It implies responsibility. That is what separates it from .news: here somebody signs and answers for what they assert.
• It also carries the sense of flagging. Useful for a complaints or whistleblowing route, in an entirely different register.
• No registration restrictions. No status or accreditation to demonstrate to the registrar.
• It works as an email address too. data@institute.report takes verification requests separately from everything else.