Editorial standards.

Accuracy

We try to verify important factual claims before publication, using more than one source where the claim is significant or contested. When we cannot confirm something independently, we say so and attribute it to the person or organisation that made the claim. Names, figures, dates and quotations are checked before a story is published.

Sources

Our stories draw on:

• our own reporting and interviews;
• official statements from government ministries, agencies and public institutions;
• organisations, companies and their representatives;
• public records, court documents, reports and data;
• reputable news agencies and other credible publications.

We prefer sources who can be named. When we grant anonymity, it is because the source has a good reason, such as a risk to their safety or livelihood, and an editor knows who they are.

Attribution

Information that comes from another publication, agency or organisation is attributed to it in the text. Where a story relies on such material, its sources are also listed under the story, with links where they are available. Quotations from other outlets are kept short, are clearly marked as quotations and are always credited. Photographs and other images carry a credit when they are not our own.

Original value

We do not republish other publishers’ articles as our own. When we report on something first reported elsewhere, our story must add something: confirmation from our own sources, local context for our readers, analysis, a translation with context, or new reporting. Before a story is published, editors check what it adds and whether its sources are clearly credited.

Press releases and official statements

Statements and press releases are a starting point, not the finished story. We distinguish what an organisation claims from what we have been able to verify, add context and seek other views where appropriate. Material published largely as supplied by an organisation is labelled Press release.

Headlines and images

Headlines must accurately reflect the story beneath them and must not mislead or exaggerate to attract clicks. Images must fairly represent the subject, and photographs are not altered in ways that change their meaning.

Opinion, analysis and reporting

News reports set out facts and attributed views. Pieces that interpret events are labelled Analysis; pieces that argue for a point of view are labelled Opinion and represent their author, not Hobe News. The label appears above the headline.

Use of AI tools

Writers and editors may use software, including AI tools, to help with tasks such as transcription, translation drafts, summarising documents or checking spelling. A named person is always responsible for every story we publish: any text produced with such tools is reviewed, fact-checked and edited by a human before publication. We do not publish AI-generated images presented as real photographs.

Advertising, sponsorship and conflicts of interest

Advertisers and sponsors have no influence over our journalism. Paid or partner content is published only under a clear Sponsored content label, and advertisements are marked as such and kept separate from stories. Writers must tell an editor about any personal or financial interest in a story they work on, and should not cover subjects where such an interest could reasonably affect their work.

Corrections

We correct significant errors promptly and openly. See our corrections policy for how to report a mistake and how corrections are shown.

Reader comments

Comments are reviewed by a moderator before they appear. We do not publish comments that are abusive, hateful, defamatory, off-topic, commercial spam or that reveal someone’s private information. Publishing a comment does not mean Hobe News endorses it.