Brad Chacos wrote:

We launched translation capabilities in 2023. Since then, I’ve been the person who identifies which German and Swedish articles get pulled in. That changed two weeks ago, when I handed off that process to a collection of other staffers.

I won’t go into all the details, but the team thought I had approved this Windows 12 article, when I had not. They agree the lack of sourcing should have tripped their own editorial sensors, and that alone should have compelled them to hold the article for a follow-up conversation. It was a failure to schedule this article without double-checking with me first.

But, crucially, I was on leave for personal reasons from last Wednesday until this Tuesday, and largely unable to communicate. Questionable articles usually get flagged to me for inspection, but I wasn’t around.

As executive editor, I act as the final line of defense on PCWorld. I schedule our top stories for the following day, and give each a thorough read to ensure they meet our standards. But the system broke down in this case.

Again, this is an explanation, not an excuse. This story never should have published on PCWorld and I’m sorry that it did.

Going forward, I will communicate role responsibilities clearly to all staff, and I’ve reminded our editorial team that potentially problematic stories always need to be raised to senior leadership before going live. If I’m not around, they will flag our editorial director, Jon Phillips. Assumptions aren’t good enough.