Editorial Standards & Ethics

What these standards are for

These are the rules Budgy App works to, written down so that readers can hold us to them. They apply to all ten desks: world news, business, technology, science, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, auto and gaming. A film story and a central bank story are held to the same standard of accuracy, sourcing and fairness. The subjects differ; the discipline does not.

They apply regardless of where a story happens. We have no home country, so no country’s events are domestic and none are foreign; each story is written for a reader who may live anywhere.

Accuracy comes first

We publish what we can verify. Every fact in a story should be traceable to a document, a record, a direct observation or a named or identified source, and the story should tell the reader which. A claim we could not verify is either left out or presented as an unverified claim, using that word. When being first and being right conflict, we hold the story.

Independence

No advertiser, government, party, club, studio, publisher, manufacturer, investor or official influences what we cover or how. Advertising is served through a network, and no advertiser’s identity is part of editorial planning. Nobody outside the newsroom sees a story before it is published.

We accept no payment for coverage, no payment to withhold coverage, no payment to place or remove a link and no gifts of more than nominal value from anyone we cover. We do not publish submitted, sponsored or paid articles. Travel and access for reporting are paid for by us, and where a story could not have been done without an organisation’s assistance, the story says so.

Sourcing and attribution

Sources are named whenever possible. When we quote a person, we say who they are and in what capacity they spoke. When we rely on a document, we identify it well enough for a reader to find it. Vague phrases such as sources say, without further identification, are not acceptable attribution on this site.

Anonymous sources are used only when the information is important, cannot be obtained on the record and the source has a real reason to fear the consequences of being named. An editor must know the source’s identity and approve the use. The story explains why the source is not named and what position they are in to know what they claim. Anonymity is never granted to allow someone to attack another person or organisation without accountability.

Fairness

People and organisations criticised in a story are given a genuine chance to respond before publication, with enough detail about the allegation and enough time to answer it. The response is reported fairly and prominently, not buried. Where someone declines to comment, we say so; where we could not reach them, we say what we tried. Fairness does not mean false balance: a claim contradicted by the evidence is reported as contradicted, not as one of two equal views.

Covering people

Public figures acting in public roles are fair subjects for scrutiny. Private individuals are not, unless their actions are genuinely a matter of public interest, and even then we weigh the harm of naming them. We take particular care with victims, with children and with anyone who did not choose to be in the news. We do not publish material obtained by deception, intrusion or harassment.

Access, review units, embargoes and briefings

Devices, games, vehicles and other products loaned to us for review are returned or, where the maker does not want them back, disposed of without personal benefit to the reviewer. A review states whether the product was bought, borrowed or supplied and for how long it was used. Press trips, screenings and hospitality are accepted only where declining would make the story impossible, and the story discloses them.

Embargoes are agreements about timing and nothing else. We honour an embargo we have agreed to, and we agree to one only when the terms are written down in advance. An embargo does not restrict what we say, who we ask or whether we report information we obtained independently. Briefings offered on the condition that we cannot disclose that they took place are declined.

Financial holdings and personal interests

People who write or edit business and market coverage do not trade in the securities, tokens or private companies they cover, and they disclose their holdings to an editor. They do not act on information obtained through reporting before it is published and do not share it with anyone who might. A sports writer does not bet on the competitions they cover, and a reviewer does not hold a stake in the studio or publisher whose work they judge.

Opinion, analysis and reviews

News stories report; they do not argue. Where we publish opinion, analysis or a review, it is labelled and the label is visible, and the piece is kept separate from news coverage of the same subject. Reviews state the reviewer’s basis: what was tested, watched or played, under what conditions, for how long and against what. Analysis is the reasoned view of the writer and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, bet on or avoid anything.

Headlines, images and captions

A headline must be supported by the story beneath it. It may not promise more than the story delivers, imply a conclusion the story does not reach or state as fact something the story attributes. Images must show what the caption says they show. File photographs, stock images, renderings, screenshots and illustrations are identified as such. We do not alter news photographs beyond routine cropping and exposure adjustment.

Plagiarism and originality

We do not present other people’s work as our own. Reporting that originated elsewhere is credited to where it originated, and a reworded version of someone else’s exclusive is still someone else’s exclusive. Quotations are exact; where we tidy grammar in a spoken quote, we do not change meaning, and where we cut, we mark it.

Conflicts of interest

Staff and contributors disclose to an editor any financial interest, employment history, family relationship, advisory role, political involvement, club membership or business connection that touches a story they are working on, and they do not cover subjects where such a conflict exists. Where a connection is unavoidable and disclosure serves the reader, the story discloses it.

Errors and accountability

We correct errors openly under the corrections policy. Readers who believe we have breached these standards can write to support@budgyapp.com with COMPLAINT in the subject line; complaints are read by an editor not involved in the story and answered in writing. These standards are reviewed when the corrections log or a complaint shows they need to be, and changes are published on this page.

Last updated: September 2026