Editorial Standards

Independence

No advertiser, government, or funder tells us what to publish. Advertising on the Bureau is clearly labeled and kept strictly separate from editorial decisions — a sponsor cannot buy a headline, soften a paragraph, or kill a story. Our writers answer to the facts and to the reader, in that order.

The three lenses

Power looks different depending on where you stand. Every major story the Bureau publishes is examined through three perspectives — how it reads in the West, how it reads in the East, and how it reads across the Global South. Our writers bring vantage points from many countries precisely so no single perspective goes unchallenged — including, when the facts demand it, the vantage point of their own side. The Bureau is a desk-based newsroom: it does not claim field correspondents in every capital.

Sourcing

• Contested claims require at least two independent sources before publication.
• Primary documents — contracts, filings, treaties, datasets — are preferred over secondhand accounts, and linked wherever possible.
• Anonymous sources are used sparingly, only when the information cannot be obtained on the record and the source’s motives have been weighed. What an anonymous source asserts is always corroborated.

News and opinion, never confused

The daily feed is straight news: verified facts, plain language, no editorializing. Voices is the opposite by design — signed opinion columns where each writer argues a position with the gloves off. Opinion pieces are labeled as such and never presented as news.

Respect

We report on faith, culture, and belief factually and without mockery. We do not publish what demeans people for what they hold sacred.

Corrections

When we err, we say so — publicly and promptly. See our Corrections Policy.

How we apply these standards

These are the rules. See how a Bureau story gets made, from the research desk to your screen →