Ethics Policy

These guidelines are intended to assist the Digi Hind News in delivering news and information in a rapidly evolving media landscape. We view these guidelines as a “living document” that we will continue to modify and update based on what our journalists, readers, and we believe to be our evolving requirements. Because the manner in which information is found and disseminated varies greatly from case to case, these guidelines should not be interpreted as a set of inflexible rules or a means to manage every possible circumstance.

Competing Interests

This news outlet has pledged to avoid conflicts of interest and situations that appear to be conflicts of interest to the greatest extent practicable. We have severe standards regarding these matters, even though we recognise that they may be more stringent than the norm in the private business sector. In particular:

We Foot Our Own Bill

We do not accept gifts from news outlets. We do not travel for free. We neither desire nor accept preferential treatment based on our positions, nor do we request it. There are few and clear exceptions to the no-gifts rule. For instance, you may accept an offer to a meal if it is extended once with a worthy reason, but not if it is extended repeatedly for the aim of obtaining something from you.

Events that charge admission cannot admit persons for free. The only exceptions are seats not offered to the general public, such as those in a press box, and tickets provided to critics so they can write about the event. Plans will be made whenever possible to pay for these seats.

We do not accept funding from governments, government-funded organisations, groupings of government officials, political organisations, or organisations that take contentious stances on subjects. Included are honoraria and expenses. In addition, a journalist or editor cannot accept payment from anyone, firm, or organisation they cover.

And we should not accept funding from individuals, businesses, trade associations, or organisations that influence the government or attempt to alter the newspaper’s coverage in other ways. Unless the reporter or editor is covering them, this rule often does not apply to broadcasting organisations, educational institutions, social organisations, and many professional organisations.

It is crucial not to accept any freelancing work or honoraria that could be perceived as a veiled gift. We make every effort to maintain editorial independence from news sources and particular interests. People whose positions make it likely that journalists will be interested in and investigate them should not be approached too closely. Both our personal and professional actions must not bring disgrace to our positions or to The Post.

We do not engage in politics, community concerns, social action, or protests that may affect or appear to affect our capacity to report and edit impartially. Relatives cannot be compelled to adhere to Post regulations, but it is vital to remember that their occupations or involvement in causes can at least make us appear less trustworthy. Department heads need to know about the business and professional ties of traditional family members and other members of your household.

Fairness

The Post’s reporters and editors work hard to be fair. Even though there are a lot of arguments about objectivity, editors and reporters can easily understand and work toward fairness. Fairness comes from doing a few simple things:

• No story is fair if it leaves out facts that are very important. Completeness is a part of fairness.
• No story is fair if it leaves out important facts in favour of details that don’t really matter. Relevance is a part of fairness.
• No story is fair if it misleads or even fools the reader on purpose or by accident. Being fair means being honest with the reader.
• No story is fair if it talks about people or groups that haven’t been given the chance to respond to what other people have said about them. Fairness means asking people what they think and really thinking about what they say.

Taste

The Digi Hind News cares about taste and decency and knows that people’s ideas of what is tasteful and decent are always changing. A word that was offensive to the last generation might be used by the next generation.

But we won’t get too excited. We won’t use swear words or bad language unless they are so important to a story that it would lose all meaning without them. No curse words can be used without the executive or managing editors’ permission.

If editors decide that content that could be offensive but is still important news, they should put up visual and/or text warnings about it. For example, we may link to a Web page that has content that doesn’t meet the standards for Post original content. Before users click on the link, we let them know what they might see by adding a warning, like “Warning: Some images on this site show violent scenes from war.”

Lastly, we don’t link to sites that help or encourage people to do something illegal. If you’re not sure if a site falls under this rule, talk to the Legal Department.

Opinion

There is a clear break between the news columns and the editorial pages. This is done to help the reader, who has a right to get facts in the news columns and opinions on the editorial and “op-ed” pages. But nothing about this separation of roles is meant to get rid of honest, in-depth reporting, analysis, or commentary in the news columns when they are clearly labelled as such. The labels are made like this:

• Analysis of the news based on evidence, such as data, and predicting how things might go based on how they have gone in the past.
• Perspective: Discussions of news stories from a certain point of view, such as people’s stories about their own lives.
• Opinion: A blog or column in the section called “Opinions.”

A review is a professional critic’s opinion about a service, product, performance, work of art or literature.

Social Media

This part of the rules has been changed as of June 30, 2022. The good of the country and the community.

The Digi Hind News cares a lot about what’s best for the country and for the community. We think that these goals are best served by getting information to as many people as possible. If a government official says something is in the national interest, that doesn’t mean it is in the national interest. Just because a local official says something is in the public interest doesn’t mean that it is.

A Journalist’s Role

Even though it’s getting harder in the Internet age, reporters should do their best to stay in the audience, be the stagehand instead of the star, and report the news instead of making it.

When gathering news, journalists won’t lie about who they are or what they do. They won’t pretend to be police officers, doctors, or anything else other than reporters.