Newsroom Dispatch

A Newsroom Dispatch reads a current event through the Wheel of Heaven frame. The event is the subject; the canon-tied reading is the angle. Dispatches are short (300–800 words), event-anchored, and decay — they’re meant to be current, not definitive.

Dispatches live at data-content/news/{slug}.md and serve at https://www.wheelofheaven.world/news/{slug}/.

When to write a Dispatch#

A useful test: would this piece be just as relevant five years from now? If yes, it’s an Article. If no, it’s a Dispatch.

Anatomy#

+++
title = "JWST resolves the most distant galaxy yet — and the universe gets weirder"
description = "JADES-GS-z14-0 sits at z=14.32, only 290 million years after the Big Bang. We re-read the canon's cosmology in light of how much earlier structure formed than models predicted."
template = "news-page.html"
date = 2026-05-08

[extra]
event_date = 2026-05-07
event_type = "discovery"
claim_type = "inferred"
summary = "The James Webb Space Telescope confirmed JADES-GS-z14-0 as the most distant galaxy ever observed. Cosmological structure formed earlier and faster than mainstream models predict — a wrinkle the Wheel of Heaven cosmology has long noted."
canon_links = [
    { title = "Elohim cosmology", path = "/wiki/elohim-cosmology/" },
    { title = "Age of Cassiopeia", path = "/timeline/age-of-cassiopeia/" }
]
sources = [
    { title = "JWST confirms distance to JADES-GS-z14-0", url = "https://www.nature.com/articles/...", outlet = "Nature", date = "2026-05-07" },
    { title = "Universe formed structure faster than models predict", url = "https://...", outlet = "Reuters", date = "2026-05-08" }
]
+++

## What happened

JWST resolved JADES-GS-z14-0 at redshift z=14.32...

[Plain factual lede — 1–2 paragraphs, no editorial yet]

## The canon angle

This is the kind of result the canon has, in its own way, predicted...

[2–4 paragraphs reading the event through the Wheel of Heaven frame.
Which canon claim does it touch? Sharpen? Complicate? Echo?]

## Context

JADES-GS-z14-0 is not the first galaxy to surprise the model...

[Optional: where this event sits in a longer story]

Required frontmatter#

Dispatches have more required frontmatter than other content types because of how they’re surfaced.

event_type valid values#

If your event doesn’t fit, push back on the categorization — don’t shoehorn.

Structure#

1. Lede — “What happened” (1–2 paragraphs) Plain factual reporting. No editorial yet. State the event in terms a reader can verify against the source.

2. Canon angle — “How does this read?” (2–4 paragraphs) The Wheel of Heaven reading. Which canon claim does this event touch? Sharpen? Complicate? Echo? This is the only reason the Dispatch exists. Without a canon angle, it’s not a Dispatch.

3. Context (optional) (1 paragraph) Where this event sits in a longer story. Skip if the event is stand-alone.

4. Sources (automatic) Rendered from the sources frontmatter array. Don’t write this section manually.

Sourcing — the floor, not the ceiling#

Dispatches are exempt from the six-source minimum. They require only:

• 1× Primary news source (in sources)
• 1× Canon link (in canon_links)

The canon link is what makes this a Wheel of Heaven Dispatch rather than commentary. If you can’t link it to canon, write something else (or nothing).

Voice#

Same scholarly register as the rest of the site, but tighter and more journalistic. The stance rules still apply:

• Canon claims direct
• Comparative / scientific claims hedged
• Critical material in its own voice

Avoid:

• Sensational headlines
• Editorializing in the lede
• Burying the news under the angle (the event is the subject; the angle is the angle)

Decay#

Dispatches over 12 months old should be reviewed:

• Leave as historical record (if the event still matters), or
• Seed into a future Article (if the angle has matured into a thesis)

Never promote a Dispatch into an Article in-place. Don’t rename the file, don’t retitle it. If the topic deserves the long form, write a fresh Article and have it cite the Dispatch. Different content types, different lifetimes, different URLs.

Workflow#

cd data-content
git checkout -b feature/dispatch-{slug}
$EDITOR news/{slug}.md
python scripts/validate.py
git add news/{slug}.md
git commit -m "Newsroom Dispatch: {short headline}"
git push -u origin feature/dispatch-{slug}

Translations follow the regular i18n workflow — see Translations. In practice, most Dispatches ship English-only at first; key ones get translated later.

Quality checklist#

• Title under 60 characters
• Description 150–160 characters
• event_date set (the event, not the publication date)
• event_type matches the actual kind of event
• At least one canon_links entry
• At least one primary news source in sources
• Lede stays factual (no editorial)
• Canon angle is the second section and clearly named
• Length 300–800 words
• claim_type set (usually inferred for dispatches)
• No broken @/path.md links

Distinct from Articles#