/editorial-standards/
Editorial standards
The rules every item is filed against. They bind the newsroom, they are enforceable by readers, and departures from them are treated as errors rather than judgement calls.
Independence
No party outside the newsroom decides what is filed, when, or in what order.
1.1
No licensee, commercial partner or supplier sees an item before publication, and none holds a right of review over any item.
1.2
Commercial pressure is not a reason to file, hold or withdraw an item. A threat to end a contract is recorded and, where it bears on coverage, reported.
1.3
The wire carries no advertising, sponsorship or paid placement, so no item exists in a commercial context set by a third party.
1.4
Where the publication has a commercial relationship with the subject of an item, the item discloses it in its own text.
Accuracy
Being first is worth nothing if the item is wrong; the thresholds in /how-we-report/ are the operational form of this section.
2.1
Every factual assertion traces to a source the desk can name internally, whether or not the source is named in the item.
2.2
Uncertainty is stated, not smoothed. An item that rests on a single account says so.
2.3
Headlines assert only what the item establishes. A headline never states as fact what the text attributes to a claim.
2.4
Quotations are verbatim. Nothing is compressed, reordered or cleaned up inside quotation marks; cuts are marked.
2.5
An error of fact is corrected on the item and flagged at the top. It is never repaired silently or folded into a revision.
Impartiality and language
The wire reports positions; it does not hold them.
3.1
Items carry no editorial opinion, endorsement or recommendation, and the publication does not endorse candidates, parties or causes.
3.2
Contested terms are attributed rather than adopted. Where two sides use different names for the same thing, the item says who uses which.
3.3
Adjectives of magnitude — historic, unprecedented, massive — are not used unless a named source is being quoted using them.
3.4
Impartiality is not false balance. A disputed factual question is not presented as evenly split when the evidence is not.
3.5
People are described by characteristics — nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability — only where those characteristics bear on the item.
Naming people
A name on a wire is permanent and travels further than the item. The default is to name only where naming is necessary.
4.1
Public figures are named in matters of their public role. Private individuals are named only where the item cannot be understood without it.
4.2
A person under investigation is not named before charge unless a public authority has named them or the public interest is direct and demonstrable.
4.3
Charge is not conviction. Items reporting proceedings state their stage, and an acquittal or dropped case is filed with the same prominence as the charge.
4.4
Children are not named or made identifiable in items about crime, family proceedings or health, whether as subject, victim or witness.
4.5
Victims of sexual offences are never identified, including through detail that would identify them in combination.
4.6
Personal data appearing in leaked material is not republished. An item may report that a dataset contains a category of information without reproducing it.
Harm and restraint
Some information is accurate, newsworthy and still not filed in full. These are the cases where restraint is the standard rather than the exception.
5.1
Items about suicide do not describe method or location, do not present a death as a solution or as inevitable, and carry a line pointing to support services.
5.2
Statements, manifestos or recordings produced by perpetrators of violence are not reproduced or linked. Their existence and substance may be reported.
5.3
Technical detail that would materially help an attacker — working exploit code, unpatched attack paths, or the practical steps of a physical attack — is withheld. Items on vulnerabilities state impact and remedy.
5.4
Ongoing operations, hostage situations and evacuations are reported only insofar as reporting does not expose people to further risk. Live tactical positions are not filed.
5.5
Graphic detail of death or injury is not filed for its own sake. Where the fact of an injury matters, the fact is stated without the description.
Fairness to subjects
Anyone facing a significant allegation on the wire gets a real chance to answer it.
6.1
The subject of an allegation is put to it before filing, with enough specifics to respond and a stated deadline proportionate to the story.
6.2
A response is carried in the item, in the subject's own terms. Where no response is received, the item says what was asked and when.
6.3
Declining to comment is reported as such and is never characterised as an admission.
6.4
A substantive later response is added to the item as a revision, at the time it arrives.
Market-sensitive information
A wire moves prices. That makes some ordinary newsroom habits unacceptable here.
7.1
No one at the publication trades on information before it is filed, or holds positions in instruments their desk covers.
7.2
Market-moving items are released to every reader at the same instant. No licensee, terminal or channel receives them early.
7.3
Figures under embargo are held to the second, and the wire does not publish a countdown, a hint or a partial before release.
7.4
Rumour is not filed as a market item. Where a rumour is itself moving a price, the item reports the movement and identifies the claim as unverified.
Enforcement
A standard nobody can invoke is not a standard.
8.1
Anyone may cite a clause of this document against an item. Complaints go to contact@avorz.com with the item address and the clause number.
8.2
Complaints are acknowledged within one working day and answered within ten, in writing, with the reasoning.
8.3
Where a complaint is upheld, the outcome is published alongside the correction on the item, and states which clause was breached.
8.4
Complaints are handled by staff who did not file or release the item in question.
8.5
This document is versioned. Changes are published with their date, and the previous version stays reachable so that an item can be judged against the standards in force when it was filed.
Version 4.2 · In force 01 Jul 2026 · Previous versions: 4.1
· 4.0
Related: /how-we-report/ · /about/
Related: /how-we-report/ · /about/