National Herald UK is built to explain public life clearly. These standards define how the publication should report, analyse, correct and present information.
Accuracy
Accuracy is the first duty of the publication. Claims should be checked against reliable sources wherever possible, including official statements, public records, parliamentary material, regulator documents, company announcements, court records, data releases, direct interviews and credible reporting.
Where information is developing, uncertain or disputed, that uncertainty should be made clear. National Herald UK should not pretend to know more than it knows.
Sourcing and attribution
Readers should be able to understand where information comes from. Articles should attribute important claims clearly, especially when they come from government departments, political parties, regulators, companies, campaign groups, courts or named individuals.
Anonymous sourcing should be used carefully. Where a source cannot be named, the article should still explain why the information is considered reliable as far as possible without exposing the source.
News, analysis and opinion
News reporting should prioritise facts, context and clarity. Analysis may explain patterns, consequences and possible outcomes, but it should remain grounded in evidence. Opinion should be clearly labelled and should not be disguised as neutral reporting.
This distinction matters because readers deserve to know what kind of article they are reading.
Headlines and framing
Headlines should be accurate, fair and supported by the article. They should not exaggerate a development, create false urgency or imply a conclusion the reporting does not support.
Captions, summaries, metadata and social captions should follow the same standard.
Images and graphics
Images should support the story rather than mislead the reader. A generic image should not create the impression that it shows a specific person, place or event if it does not.
When an article has no featured image, the site should show a clean National Herald placeholder rather than leaving a broken space.
Corrections and updates
Material factual errors should be corrected promptly. Minor spelling or formatting edits may be made silently, but changes that affect reader understanding should be made transparently where appropriate.
Updates should not rewrite history without reason. If a story has materially developed, the article may include an updated timestamp or note explaining what changed.
Desk-author transparency
National Herald UK uses editorial desk profiles where work is produced or reviewed by a specialist desk. This is a transparent way to show responsibility without inventing fake personal identities.
If named journalists or contributors are added later, their pages should clearly distinguish real individual authors from desk profiles.
Commercial separation
Advertising, sponsorships, partnerships and commercial content must not determine independent editorial judgement. Commercial material should be labelled where required and kept separate from news decision-making.
Trust is the publication’s long-term asset. Commercial growth should support the newsroom without weakening reader confidence.
