Editorial Code of Practice

Last updated 28 September 2026

1. Accuracy

We take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including in headlines, summaries and charts. Where a claim is contested, we say so and describe the disagreement fairly rather than settling it by assertion. Conjecture is labelled as conjecture, and comment is kept distinct from fact.

2. Primary evidence

Every article is built on primary material: legislation, official statistics, parliamentary records, court judgments, freedom of information responses and named expert analysis. We read documents in full rather than through summaries, quote statistics with their date, geography and definitional caveats, and show the working behind any figure we calculate ourselves. Each article closes with its sources.

3. Independence

Decisions about what we cover, what we conclude and what we correct are taken by the Editor in Chief, independently of funders, advertisers, political parties and commercial interests. We do not accept payment for coverage, and we do not trade access for favourable treatment. Relevant financial, professional or personal interests are declared and, where material, disclosed in the article itself.

4. Fairness and right of reply

Where an article makes a significant criticism of a named person or organisation, we put the substance to them before publication and allow a reasonable opportunity to respond. Responses are represented accurately, and a refusal to comment is reported neutrally. We do not obtain material through misrepresentation, and we identify ourselves as journalists when reporting.

5. Privacy, harassment and vulnerable people

We respect private and family life, health and correspondence, and intrude only where there is a genuine public interest that outweighs the intrusion. We do not persist in questioning or photographing anyone who has asked us to stop. Children are not interviewed or photographed on matters affecting their welfare without the consent of a responsible adult, and we take particular care with people at risk, including in reporting on suicide, mental health and bereavement.

6. Discrimination

We avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person's race, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or any physical or mental illness. Such details are reported only where genuinely relevant to the story.

7. Sources and confidentiality

We have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources, and we set out how we do so in our whistleblower and confidential sources policy. We do not pay criminals or their associates for material, and we do not publish leaked material where the harm of doing so clearly exceeds the public interest.

8. Plurality and bylines

Plurality operates across the publication rather than inside every article. Writers reach clear conclusions, and over time we publish intelligent competing perspectives so readers meet the strongest arguments on each side. Every article carries a named author, who is responsible for the accuracy of their own work. The Editor in Chief is responsible for enforcing this code across everything we publish.

9. Complaints and enforcement

Anyone may complain that this code has been breached. Write to privacy@stateoftherealm.org with the article, the passage in question and the reason you believe the code was breached. We acknowledge complaints within five working days and aim to reach a decision within twenty eight days. Where we uphold a complaint, we correct the article and publish the correction openly under our corrections policy.