Break is a newsroom for the physical economy. We cover the ports, ships, raw materials, fuels and currencies that sit underneath every price in a shop, and the rules that decide where goods can go. We report from the quay, the mine road and the control room, and we write for readers who need to know what moved and why.
Who we are
Seven reporters and editors in Rotterdam, Santiago, Singapore, Frankfurt, Geneva, Tokyo and London. Between us we have worked on a feeder ship's bridge, on a metals desk, in a refinery control room and at a port authority. We keep the newsroom small on purpose: every story is edited by someone who has done the job it describes.
What we cover
Four desks carry most of the work, with trade policy and industry alongside them.
- Shipping: ships, boxes, ports and the routes between them.
- Commodities: copper, lithium, grain, cocoa and gold, from the mine to the trader.
- Energy: LNG, bunker fuel, wind, solar and the grid.
- Money: currencies, central banks and trade finance.
Our data desk builds the Break Freight Index, the Chokepoint Tracker and the Tanker Map, and every morning the Morning Manifest newsletter puts the day's stories in one short read.
How we report
We name our sources wherever we can, and when we cannot, we say why. A figure that could be mistaken for an official statistic carries its source in the same sentence. We do not trade in the markets we cover, and our reporters declare any holdings to the editor. Our style guide sets out how we write numbers, places, ships and currencies.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we fix it in the story and add a note at the foot saying what changed and when. We do not quietly edit a figure. Corrections to our indices follow the revisions policy on each index's page. To report an error, write to the corrections desk; the addresses are on our contact page.
Contact
Tips, corrections, advertising and job enquiries each have their own inbox, listed on the contact page. A person reads every message.
About this site
Break is a demonstration of the Break theme for Ghost, designed and built by Prime Direction for news publishers. The stories exist to show how the theme handles live coverage, long reads, newsletters, podcasts, photo essays and data projects. Any resemblance to real companies, ships or people is coincidental.
