Editorial Standards
The principles behind every story, database and report Power Lens publishes.
These standards apply to everyone who produces work for Power Lens, including staff, contributors, volunteers and partners working under our name. They sit alongside our methodology, which explains how we check evidence.
Our principles
- Accuracy. We check before we publish. Headlines, images and captions must match the evidence.
- Public interest. We investigate and publish where there is a clear public interest, such as how public power and public money are used, or how rights are protected or violated.
- Fairness. We give people a fair chance to respond (right of reply), and we never treat an allegation as a finding.
- Independence. We act for no party, government, business or donor (editorial independence).
- Minimising harm. We weigh the public interest against the risk of harm to sources, subjects and others, and we take particular care with children and people at risk (safeguarding).
- Transparency. We show our sources where we safely can, and we publish our methods, our funding and our corrections.
- Accountability. We take responsibility for what we publish, and we correct what is wrong (corrections policy).
How our work is checked
- Every piece we publish is reviewed by an editor who did not write it.
- A serious allegation needs more: a complete evidence file, a finished right of reply, and a legal and safety review before publication. See our investigation methodology.
- Data and analysis are checked by a second person. See our data methodology.
- Headlines, summaries and social media posts are held to the same standard as the story.
How we gather information
- We say who we are. We do not pretend to be someone else to obtain information.
- We do not pay for information or interviews.
- We tell people when we are recording them.
- We do not accept gifts, favours or hospitality that could affect our judgement. See our conflict of interest policy.
Language and presentation
- We write in plain language, and we choose precise words over loaded ones.
- We describe allegations as allegations, and we use the presumption of innocence until a court decides otherwise.
- We do not alter images or video in ways that could mislead. Any editing beyond basic cropping and colour correction is disclosed.
- We may use AI tools for tasks such as transcription, translation and searching large sets of documents. A person checks the output before it is used. We do not present AI-generated text or images as evidence.
Opinion and analysis
Analysis and opinion are labelled clearly and kept apart from news and investigations. They are still based on facts, and they still follow these standards.
If we fall short
Anyone can raise a concern about our work. See our complaints policy. We treat breaches of these standards seriously, and we publish corrections openly.