Code of Ethics — State News Journal
Effective date: 10 October 2026. This code binds every desk at State News Journal, an outlet published by 24World Media, 1411 N Sterling Ave, Palatine, IL 60067, United States.
1. Truth before speed
We publish what we have verified. Central facts are checked against at least two reputable sources, and primary documents are preferred over summaries wherever they exist. If we cannot confirm a claim, we either do not publish it or state plainly that it is unconfirmed and what would confirm it. Speed never justifies presenting a rumour as a fact.
2. Attribution and honesty
Claims are attributed to the people and institutions that made them. Company announcements are reported as company claims, official figures as official figures, forecasts as forecasts. We never invent sources, quotations, bylines, credentials or events. Our stories carry honest desk bylines because a team produced them; we do not fabricate individual reporters.
3. Independence
Editorial decisions are made by our desks on news value alone. Advertisers, sponsors, partners and owners do not select, frame, soften or suppress news coverage. Advertising and sponsored content are labelled and visually separated from reporting. Gifts, payments or hospitality intended to influence coverage are refused.
4. Fairness
People and institutions criticised in our reporting are given a fair chance to respond, and their responses are reported. We do not use deceptive methods to obtain information. We identify ourselves as journalists when reporting, except in the rare case where the public interest clearly outweighs that rule and an editor approves in advance.
5. Minimising harm
We report crime, tragedy and public controversy without sensationalism. We do not publish gratuitous graphic material, do not identify victims where identification would add harm without adding public understanding, and take particular care with children and vulnerable people. Entertainment coverage concerns the work and the business, never intrusion into private lives.
6. Accuracy in images
Photographs and video must show what the caption says they show. Images are not staged, composited or cropped to mislead. Library images are labelled as such where a reader could mistake them for the event itself. We use licensed images and credit them in our records.
7. Corrections
Errors are corrected promptly and openly, with the change noted on the story, under our corrections policy. We never silently rewrite the factual record.
8. Accountability
Each desk page explains who is responsible for that desk and how to reach it. Readers can challenge any story through the contact page. Breaches of this code by any contributor end that contributor's work with this outlet.
This code is published so readers can judge us against it. Holding State News Journal to these words is not a complaint; it is the point.
9. Conflicts of interest
Contributors must declare financial or personal interests in subjects they cover, and editors reassign coverage where a conflict exists. No desk member may trade on unpublished reporting, accept employment from a covered institution while covering it, or hold a paid role with a campaign, agency or company within their beat.
10. Sources and confidentiality
Anonymous sourcing is a last resort, used only where a source faces real risk and the information cannot be obtained on the record, and always with an explanation to readers of why anonymity was granted and how the claim was checked. We protect confidential sources. Material obtained from a source is used only for the purpose agreed with that source.
11. Data, records and artificial intelligence
We handle leaked or provided datasets with the same verification standard as any other evidence, checking authenticity before publication and declining material whose origin cannot be established. Software tools may assist editing and analysis, but verification, judgement and the decision to publish rest with named desk editors, and no automated system publishes to this site unchecked.
12. Review of this code
This code is reviewed by the publisher at least annually and whenever a significant failure shows a gap in it. Changes are published on this page with a new effective date, and the code in force at the time of publication governs any question about a published story.
