Who runs Operator Press?
Operator Press is an independent editorial publication. Day-to-day editorial work is led by the named contributors listed on /contributors/, who retain editorial control over the bylines under their names.
Is this an independent publication?
Yes. No commercial party approves, reviews, or commissions specific articles. Where a piece touches on a company a contributor has a working relationship with, the relationship is disclosed in the piece.
How do you make money?
Subscriptions and a small set of long-running classified-style listings from a working list of operator-economy services. We do not sell sponsored content under a staff byline. We do not run banner advertising. We do not accept payment from companies we cover.
How often do you publish?
Weekly. New pieces appear Mondays through Wednesdays. The weekly digest, with the 'what shipped' ledger and the lead piece of the week, runs Sunday.
How do I pitch?
Write to editorial at operator.press with a one-paragraph summary of the piece, the proposed length, and the bylines who would be quoted. We try to respond within two weeks. We commission a small number of contributor pieces per quarter.
Do you accept guest contributions?
Yes, with conditions. The contributor has to be willing to work with an editor, accept fact-checking, and disclose any relationship with subjects covered in the piece. We do not run guest contributions that read like a press release.
How do I subscribe?
The weekly digest signup is in the footer of every page. The digest is an email, not a tracker. We do not embed pixel beacons. Unsubscribe is one click.
Why don't you cover company X?
Usually one of three reasons. We have covered them and we are not ready to cover them again. We have not yet found a story angle on them we are willing to defend. We have looked at them and concluded the company is, on inspection, a fast generative-AI wrapper rather than an agentic system. We try not to publish a 'why we are skipping you' piece. We just skip.
Can I republish a piece?
Short quotation is fine under fair dealing. Longer republication — anything beyond a single paragraph — requires written permission. Write to press at operator.press. We are generally permissive for academic and non-commercial use and generally restrictive for commercial republication.
How do you handle corrections?
Corrections are made promptly. A correction notice runs at the bottom of the corrected piece with the date and the specific text changed. The standing log lives at /corrections/. We do not silently edit a piece after publication. Write corrections to corrections at operator.press.
How do you handle conflicts of interest?
Every contributor discloses working relationships with companies they cover. The disclosure runs in the piece. Contributors do not cover companies they hold equity in. The rule is in writing on the editorial-guidelines page.
Do you use AI to write articles?
No. Pieces are written by the named byline. We use AI as a working tool the way we use any other tool — for research, for code that powers the site, for transcript handling — but the piece is written by the person whose name is on it.
Do you have an RSS feed?
Yes. Atom is at /feed.xml, JSON Feed is at /feed.json. Each topic has its own feed at /topics/{slug}/feed.xml. Each contributor has their own feed at /contributors/{slug}/feed.xml.
What is the difference between an 'Operator Press' piece and a guest piece?
Bylined contributor pieces carry the contributor's name and bio at the top. Guest pieces carry the writer's name and the words 'guest contributor.' Both go through the same fact-checking and disclosure rules.
Why are some pieces credited to the Editorial Team?
Listicles and unsigned opinion essays are credited to the Editorial Team when the position belongs to the publication rather than to any single writer. Every Editorial Team piece is read for accuracy by at least two editors before publication.