Editorial accountability and transparency

Fingers publishes every story with a real name on the byline.

All sources will be credited appropriately and hyperlinked as possible.

In the event that Fingers publishes factually incorrect information, a prominent correction will be promptly appended to the coverage addressing the error.

Fingers will never retract or remove coverage without prominently addressing the reason for doing so.

On/off the record and anonymous sourcing

All conversations will be considered “on the record” unless a source explicitly requests to speak “on background” or “off the record” and Fingers explicitly agrees to do so.

This also applies to emails, texts, etc.—do not send Fingers things you do not want published unless you have already obtained confirmation from Fingers of “on background” or “off the record” status.

“On the record” means Fingers may publish quotations attributed by name, job title, etc., from any portion of a conversation with a source.

“On background” means Fingers may publish anonymous quotations from any portion of a conversation with a source, alongside verified contextualizing information (job title, work experience at a given firm, relationship to a given subject, etc.) so the reader understands the source’s relevance to the matter at hand.

“Off the record” means Fingers will not publish quotations or descriptions from any portion of a conversation with a source, or acknowledge publicly that the conversation has taken place, unless the source does first.

Editorial independence

Fingers does not accept money, liquor, travel, or other in-kind gifts in exchange for coverage.

Fingers does not publish press releases or accept guest “editorials” promulgated by publicists for the purpose of establishing their clients as “thought leaders,” or whatever.

In the rare event that Fingers accepts an invitation to join a press junket, this fact will be prominently disclosed in any relevant coverage that may come out of it.

In the somewhat less rare event that publicists ask to send samples to Fingers HQ, they receive this response…

I don't review or rate drinks, nor do I publish release information, so the only thing that will happen if you send me samples is that I might drink them at some point. If that's cool with you, send away. But no coverage is going to come out of this, so if you'd prefer to save the postage, that's fine too.

…and if Fingers does weirdly wind up writing about the product in a way that might create a conflict of interest, the samples will be prominently disclosed in that coverage.

Artificial intelligence

Fingers does not use generative artificial intelligence (ChatGPT, Midjourney, etc.) to produce text or images at any point during the editorial workflow process, including but not limited to coming up with things to write about, researching those things, writing about those things, etc.

Speaking, consulting, ghostwriting, etc.

Fingers is an editorial publication, not a “lead-generation funnel” for a consulting practice. Dave does not consult or collaborate with firms on any aspect of their businesses in exchange for cash, group subscription purchases, in-kind gifts, etc.

On occasion, Dave may take for-hire speaking engagements from firms in/adjacent to the beverage-alcohol industry, or in other sectors.

These engagements are strictly on a for-hire basis, with Dave in full editorial control of the content of his material. That material never includes proprietary reportage gathered at a firm’s behest.

On occasion, Dave may take ghostwriting contracts from individuals working on books or other editorial projects about the beverage-alcohol industry. Those projects may include proprietary reportage gathered at the individuals’ behest. Fingers will disclose any conflicts of interest that may arise from this work.

Dave does not ghostwrite marketing copy for firms or executives (e.g., “thought leadership”) in exchange for cash, group subscription purchases, in-kind gifts, etc.

Financial interests

Fingers is part of DINFONTAY LLC, a sole proprietor limited-liability company wholly owned by Dave Infante.

Neither Fingers, DINFONTAY LLC, nor Dave Infante has direct financial stakes (shares, equity arrangements, etc.) in firms in the beverage-alcohol industry.

Miscellaneous

This document will be updated from time to time as new ethical issues arise. The most recent update was made on 12/31/24.

Fingers was inspired to publish this ethics code by The Food Section, whose own ethics code serves as the foundation for many of the editorial tenets above.