Research Guides

Learn to read the news the way a newsroom does

The methods behind every report on this site, written out step by step: where to find primary sources, how to verify a claim before sharing it, how to read the economic data behind the headlines, and how to build a career doing this work. Everything is free, and everything comes from the reporting we do here every day.

How to Read US Interceptor Production Next to Adversary Missile Stocks

The most common chart in defence reporting puts an American production rate and an adversary stockpile on one axis and lets the reader divide them. That division is not sound, because the two numbers measure different things, come from different kinds of estimator and describe different dates. This guide explains why the Pentagon publishes no interceptor inventory, which figures on each side can actually be checked, how to tell a launcher count from a warhead count, and how to bring the chart up to date when new procurement data lands.

3 October 2026 · 6 min read

One Stop or Nonstop: When a Connection Is the Better Ticket

A quarter of the passengers departing Heathrow in 2025 were connecting, against 5 per cent at Gatwick. What that means for your itinerary, and why the cheapest connecting itinerary is often two separate tickets that carry no right to care.

3 October 2026 · 6 min read

Delayed or Cancelled: What the Data Shows and What UK261 Pays

Gatwick ran the longest average delay of any of the 23 UK reporting airports in 2023, at 27 minutes, with 55 per cent of flights on time. London City averaged 13 minutes and 72 per cent on time. The compensation bands, the care rights, and the word that decides most claims.

3 October 2026 · 7 min read

Checked Bag Fees: What the Same Bag Costs at Booking and at the Airport

Ryanair's own fee table prices a 23kg check-in bag from 28.99 euro at booking and from 54 euro afterwards. easyJet charges a flat 60 pounds at the bag drop desk. What the two largest UK low cost carriers publish, and what UK law requires you to be told.

3 October 2026 · 7 min read

Roaming Charges: The EU Cap That Does Not Apply to You

The European Union's roam like at home regime caps data at 1.30 euro per gigabyte plus VAT in 2025 and requires a cut-off at 50 euro. It has not applied to a UK mobile number since January 2021. What the rules actually cover, what they exclude, and what Ofcom requires from your provider.

3 October 2026 · 6 min read

London's Six Airports: Which One You Actually Want

Heathrow is the second closest London airport in a straight line and still the fastest to reach by rail. The Civil Aviation Authority's 2025 figures for public transport share, connecting traffic and business travel explain why the nearest airport is rarely the right one.

3 October 2026 · 7 min read

How over-the-horizon radar works: the ionosphere as a mirror, from Jindalee to Canada's Arctic shield

Over-the-horizon radar bounces high-frequency signals off the ionosphere to see aircraft and ships 1,000 to 3,000 kilometres away, far past the curvature of the Earth that blinds conventional radars. How the physics works, why the Arctic is the hardest place to do it, and how Australia's Jindalee became the technology Canada is buying for its northern approaches.

3 October 2026 · 9 min read

How to Read a Munitions Bill: What Pentagon and Budget Office Numbers Actually Measure

Two official bodies can produce two different totals for the same war, and both can be correct. The difference is that one counts what was spent and the other counts what it will cost to replace, and that a handful of technical words separate a fact from an inference. This guide shows how to tell expenditure from replacement cost, how to compare two totals that cover different dates, what to do when the inventory count is withheld, and which six figures should make you stop and check the source.

2 October 2026 · 12 min read

Why US heavy bombers stage from Britain: the Cold War logic behind RAF Fairford

Fairford was built in 1943 to launch gliders at Normandy, became Strategic Air Command's westernmost bomber field in the 1950s, and has been reactivated for every major American air campaign since Desert Storm. The mechanics of the arrangement: why the runway matters, what the 1950 transfer actually created, and how a standby airfield differs from a base.

28 September 2026 · 6 min read

What the IRGC means when it calls a base a legitimate target, and what that means at Fairford

The Revolutionary Guard's July warning that any base used to attack Iran is a legitimate target was not the first time Iran has drawn a line from an American act to a host country's soil. What the doctrine actually rests on, where Iran has enforced it in this war, how the law of neutrality and the law of armed conflict read the warning, and what the Fairford arrests would have to prove for the law to reach Tehran.

28 September 2026 · 10 min read

Britain's legal position: what hosting American bombers against Iran means, in London's own words

The government published its own legal position on 1 March 2026, a rarity in British practice. What the permission it granted the United States actually is, the defensive and offensive line the whole position stands on, where international lawyers say the line blurs, and what the Fairford arrests did to it.

28 September 2026 · 8 min read

Getting the papers: what records exist on a president's private ventures, and how the law lets them be reached

Every emoluments and conflicts case turns on the same practical question: who holds the documents, which of them are already public, and what it takes in law to compel the rest. This guide maps the record: the public paper trail from disclosures and SEC filings to blockchain ledgers and land records, the locked categories from tax returns to trust documents, the subpoena machinery as the Supreme Court built it in the twin Mazars and Vance decisions, and the scheduling and scope rules a case against a sitting president inherits. Written for the reader who wants to know not whether the ventures could be examined, but how.

27 September 2026 · 8 min read

How to build a plaintiff the emoluments clause cannot shake off: a doctrine guide

No emoluments lawsuit has ever reached a merits ruling, and the reason is procedural. This guide sets out, for the law-minded reader, how the standing doctrine actually works, why market competitors have come closest to surviving it, what the first term's hospitality plaintiffs established and where they fell, and what a plaintiff built on that record would need to show at each element to reach a verdict.

27 September 2026 · 10 min read

When to Book Flights: What the Booking-Window Data Actually Says

The booking-window studies decoded side by side, Google Flights' 39-day rule, Expedia's 15-to-30-day window, the seasonal exceptions, why the two datasets disagree, and a method for turning any of it into a cheaper ticket on your own route.

27 September 2026 · 7 min read

How US military construction gets funded: from a base's wish list to federal law

The complete path of a military construction project, from a base's DD Form 1391 through the president's budget request, congressional authorisation and appropriation, to a building under construction, explained through the fiscal 2026 cycle that funds Pituffik and the new Greenland defence areas that do not yet appear in any budget line.

27 September 2026 · 7 min read

How to search the Pentagon's budget: the C-1 Construction Programs volume, step by step

The Construction Programs volume lists every military construction project the Department of War proposes, by installation, state and dollar figure, and it is free to download and searchable with any PDF reader. A worked search for Pituffik Space Base shows how to find a funding line, read the four number columns, and avoid the mistake of taking prior year comparison tables for a new request.

24 September 2026 · 7 min read

How missile warning works, and why hypersonic and cruise weapons broke the model

The physics behind early warning radar, why the Earth's curvature hides low-flying weapons, how hypersonic glide vehicles fall between the sensor layers built for ballistic missiles, and what the new North American architecture, from over-the-horizon radar to space tracking constellations, is being designed to see.

24 September 2026 · 8 min read

How to Commission Sponsored Content That Builds Trust Instead of Burning It

A brand's guide to sponsored articles, custom research and publisher partnerships: what separates content audiences actually read from expensive filler, how labelling rules work, why editorial independence clauses protect the buyer too, and how to measure credibility outcomes.

21 September 2026 · 4 min read

How to Evaluate a Media Brand Before Investing

An investor's framework for judging news and media businesses: where the money actually comes from, which metrics reveal durability, how platform dependence and AI referral changes change the risk picture, and the questions that separate durable franchises from expensive newsletters.

21 September 2026 · 4 min read

How to Advertise in News Media Without Wasting Money

A buyer's guide to news media advertising: which formats and placements actually move a business, how direct and programmatic buying differ, what viewability and brand safety metrics mean, how to measure what a news ad achieves, and the budget mistakes most first-time advertisers make.

21 September 2026 · 4 min read

How to Share a News Tip Safely: A Guide for Insiders and Whistleblowers

What happens when you contact a newsroom, how to protect your identity before and after you make contact, what materials actually help a tip get investigated, and the realistic expectations about anonymity, risk and outcomes.