Newsroom Principles

State & Local examines how business decisions take shape in particular places: a local supplier, a regional labour market, an infrastructure project or a public investment programme. Our standard is usefulness grounded in evidence. A compelling explanation must not outrun what its sources establish.

Start with the claim and its evidence

Names, dates, quantities and consequential assertions should be traceable to accountable sources. Original documents, published research and direct announcements help establish what happened; other reporting can supply context and questions for further examination. Links should help readers inspect the basis of a statement, not imply that we endorse every conclusion on the linked page.

A proposal is not an implemented policy, a funding commitment is not a completed project, and a forecast is not a measured result. Reporting must preserve those distinctions. Survey coverage should identify the relevant population and period and avoid turning reported intentions into observed behaviour. Where evidence is incomplete or conflicting, explain the limitation rather than fill it with certainty.

Make the type of material clear

• Briefings develop an argument or explanation around documented developments. Analysis, assumptions and hypothetical examples must remain distinguishable from reported facts.
• Dispatches focus on a specific development and the context needed to understand it. Headlines and summaries should not imply more than the report supports.
• Company Statements identify an organisation's announcement as such. Plans, performance claims and expectations should be attributed to their originator, not presented as independent findings.

Historical material should retain the perspective of its stated period. Later developments must not be silently inserted into an earlier account as though they were already known.

Independence and relevant interests

Coverage should be selected for its relevance to readers, not as a promise of favourable treatment. Contributors must disclose employment, financial interests, client work, funding or other relationships that could reasonably affect the reader's assessment. Commercial or contributed material must not be disguised as independent reporting. A source or contributor cannot require a particular conclusion as a condition of inclusion.

Fairness without false certainty

Represent people and organisations accurately and provide necessary context for material criticism. Serious allegations require appropriate corroboration and an opportunity for a relevant response. Distinguish a disputed assertion from an established finding. Fairness does not require giving equal weight to claims with unequal evidence.

Language, images and assisted production

English and Russian editions should preserve the same substantive meaning, including qualifications and uncertainty. Translation may adapt phrasing, but must not change a number, attribution or the status of a decision. A correction affecting a shared fact should be checked in both editions.

Illustrations and conceptual maps must not be passed off as documentary evidence of a named place or event. Image captions, alternative text and titles should briefly describe the subject, without discussing production methods or tools. Charts need a sound basis for their quantities and comparisons; hypothetical examples must be explained as such in the accompanying article. Automated assistance with research, drafting, translation or images does not establish accuracy: every factual statement still needs support, and invented interviews, quotations or sources are unacceptable.

Corrections and updates

Readers can raise a concern through Contact Desk. Identify the page, the specific statement and the evidence supporting a correction. Substantive factual corrections should explain what changed; a routine spelling or layout repair need not become a separate notice. An update that adds new information should not conceal the earlier publication context. These principles also apply to work submitted through Contribute.