These are the rules every World Vital News journalist works to. They explain how we source, verify, label and correct our journalism, so you can judge our work for yourself.
World Vital News exists to help readers understand the world accurately. That purpose comes before speed, traffic and commercial interest. These standards apply to everyone who contributes to our journalism, including editors, writers and freelance contributors.
Where these standards do not cover a situation, editors are expected to act in the way that best serves accuracy, fairness and the public interest, and to explain their reasoning if asked.
We tell readers where our information comes from. Facts are attributed to named people, organisations or documents, and we link to original material such as official statements, data releases, court records and research papers whenever it is publicly available.
When we rely on the reporting of another news organisation, we credit and link to it. We do not present someone else’s reporting as our own, and we do not copy text from other publications.
Before publication, a second editor checks the names, titles, figures, dates and quotations in every article against the sources. Numbers are recalculated rather than copied, and claims made by governments, companies or campaigners are attributed to them rather than stated as fact.
Material from social media, including photographs and video, is not used until we have confirmed where and when it was created. If we cannot verify something important, we say so in the article.
We use anonymous sources rarely and only when the information is significant, cannot be obtained on the record, and the source has direct knowledge of it. An editor must know the identity of the source and agree that anonymity is justified.
When we grant anonymity, we explain to readers why, and we describe the source as precisely as we can without identifying them.
Our journalists do not accept gifts, payments, free travel or other benefits that could influence, or appear to influence, their coverage. Anyone with a personal, financial or political interest in a story must declare it to an editor and will not cover that story.
Advertisers and commercial partners have no influence over our editorial decisions, and no one outside the newsroom sees an article before it is published.
We may use software tools, including AI tools, to support research, transcription, translation, summarising documents and drafting. These tools make mistakes, so they never have the final word: every article is reviewed, fact-checked and approved by a human editor, who is responsible for everything we publish.
We never present AI-generated images as real photographs, and we will tell readers when automation has played a significant part in producing a piece of content.
Photographs are either taken for us, licensed, or used under free licences that permit commercial use. We do not alter news photographs beyond standard adjustments such as cropping, exposure and colour balance.
Where we use an illustrative or file photograph rather than an image of the event itself, it is chosen to represent the subject of the story, not to depict a specific moment. Every image carries descriptive alternative text for readers who use screen readers.
News reports set out what happened, what is known and what is not. Explainers and analysis add context and interpretation based on evidence, and are written to be fair to all reasonable points of view.
Opinion pieces, when we publish them, are clearly labelled and represent the views of the author rather than World Vital News.
When we make a factual error, we correct it promptly and add a note to the article explaining what was changed and when. We do not quietly edit published facts. Significant updates to a developing story are noted in the same way. The full process is described in our corrections policy.
Advertising is always clearly distinguished from journalism. Sponsored articles are labelled as sponsored at the top of the page, are produced separately from the newsroom and are never presented as independent reporting.
If you believe we have breached these standards, please tell us. Write to our editors with a link to the article and an explanation of your concern. A senior editor will review it, and if we agree that a standard was not met, we will correct the article and explain what we have done.
If an article falls short of these standards, tell us. A senior editor reviews every complaint.
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