Editorial Standards

Accuracy comes first

We would rather publish later than publish something wrong. A fact goes in an article only when it comes from a source we can name. Where sources disagree we say so, and we attribute what we cannot establish ourselves ("the ministry said", "according to the company").

Sources

We start with primary sources: official releases, court and parliamentary records, regulators, company filings and statements, and published research. Other publishers' reporting is used for background and credited when we rely on it. Every article lists its sources under "See sources", with the publisher and a link, marked as official, reference, news or wire.

How we use AI tools

We are open about this. AI tools help us in three ways:

• spotting subjects many people are searching for, from public search trends;
• gathering background and writing first drafts from a brief that names the sources to use;
• shortening our own articles into Quick reads.

AI tools never publish. Every article is reviewed by an editor who checks it against its sources, rewrites what needs rewriting, and publishes it under their own name. The editor, not the software, is responsible for what appears. Subjects involving deaths, disasters, violence, crime and election results are not drafted with AI tools at all; an editor writes them.

Review

Every article is reviewed before it goes live. Articles in business, health and politics are always read by a second, senior editor as well, because mistakes there can cost readers money, health or trust. In other topics a senior editor reads a share of articles, and every reader report.

Fairness and language

We describe people and groups the way they describe themselves where we can, give people a chance to respond to serious claims about them, and keep opinion out of news. A headline says what the article says. We do not give financial, medical or legal advice: explainers describe how things work and point to the official source for decisions that matter.

Pictures

We use pictures we are allowed to use: our own, those supplied for publication, and photos under free licences such as Creative Commons or the Pexels licence. Each is credited under the picture with its licence. We crop and resize pictures; we don't alter what they show.

Quick reads

A Quick read contains only what its article says. Before it appears it is checked automatically (its length, that its numbers are in the article, no advice or clickbait wording) and approved by an editor.

Corrections

When we get something wrong we correct it openly. See our corrections policy.

Independence

Advertisers, sponsors and ad networks have no influence over our coverage. Ads are labelled and kept apart from articles.