Editorial Policy and Corrections Policy

At PanAfrican Post, we publish journalism in the public interest. Our reporting is guided by accuracy, fairness, independence, transparency, and respect for human dignity.

This page explains how we report, verify information, use sources, approach opinion and analysis, handle artificial intelligence, and correct mistakes when they occur.

We believe trust is earned through disciplined reporting, clear standards, and visible accountability.

Our editorial mission

PanAfrican Post exists to inform, explain, and scrutinise the forces shaping Africa and its place in the world.

We aim to publish journalism that is:

• accurate and well-sourced
• fair and properly contextualised
• independent of political and commercial pressure
• clear about what is fact, what is analysis, and what is opinion
• accountable when errors occur

Our journalism covers news, analysis, commentary, newsletters, and explanatory reporting. Every format is held to the same core standards.

Editorial independence

PanAfrican Post makes editorial decisions independently.

Advertisers, sponsors, partners, political actors, governments, lobbying interests, and commercial relationships do not determine our coverage, our headlines, our conclusions, or our corrections.

If we publish sponsored or partner content, it will be clearly labelled. We do not present advertising or paid material as independent reporting.

Accuracy and verification

Accuracy is the foundation of our work.

Before publication, our reporters and editors take reasonable steps to verify names, dates, figures, quotations, images, claims, documents, and context. The level of checking depends on the sensitivity, complexity, and urgency of the story.

We aim to distinguish clearly between:

• verified fact
• allegation
• analysis
• opinion
• satire
• developing information

Where information cannot be independently confirmed, we say so plainly.

Speed matters in digital publishing, but accuracy matters more. We would rather be right than merely early.

Fairness and right of reply

Fairness requires more than neutrality. It requires honesty, context, and a genuine effort to represent relevant facts properly.

When a person, company, institution, or public body faces serious criticism or adverse claims in our reporting, we seek comment where practicable and give a reasonable opportunity to respond before publication.

That response is not a formality. We consider it as part of the reporting process and reflect it fairly in the story.

A refusal to comment may be reported when a fair opportunity to respond was given.

Context and proportionality

We do not believe in publishing facts without context if that context materially changes their meaning.

Our reporting should not be misled by omission, distortion, exaggeration, or sensational framing. We aim to give readers what is significant, relevant, and necessary to understand a story properly.

Fairness does not mean giving equal weight to truth and misinformation. It means giving due weight to credible evidence and relevant perspectives.

Sources and attribution

We aim to be transparent about how we know what we know.

We attribute reporting, quotations, data, research, documents, and media obtained from others unless there is a compelling editorial or legal reason not to do so.

We do not plagiarise. We do not present the work of others as our own. When another publication breaks a story or contributes materially to the reporting trail, we credit that work clearly.

Readers should be able to understand:

• What our reporters directly observed
• What came from documents or records
• What came from the interviews
• What came from other reporting
• What remains an allegation or an informed analysis

Anonymous and confidential sources

Named sources are always preferred.

We may grant confidentiality only where there is a strong editorial reason, such as a credible risk of retaliation, intimidation, job loss, or harm, and where the information is important to the public interest.

Anonymous sourcing is not granted casually. As a rule:

• The reporter must know the identity of the source
• At least one editor must know the identity of the source
• The source’s credibility and motives must be assessed
• Corroboration should be sought wherever possible

When we use unnamed sources, we try to tell readers as much as we responsibly can about why the source is credible and why anonymity was granted.

We do not use anonymous sources for personal attacks, speculation, or avoidable insult.

Interviews and source ground rules

Our default position is that interviews are on the record unless another arrangement is agreed upon clearly in advance.

We do not mislead sources about who we are or why we are reporting. We do not promise favourable coverage in exchange for access. We do not allow sources to retroactively change the status of on-the-record remarks after publication decisions are underway.

In limited cases, a source may be consulted to confirm a technical detail. We do not send full drafts for source approval except in exceptional circumstances and with senior editorial approval.

News, analysis, opinion, and reviews

PanAfrican Post publishes different forms of journalism, and we label them clearly.

News

Fact-based reporting of events, developments, statements, policies, institutions, and people.

Analysis

Evidence-based interpretation that helps readers understand meaning, patterns, implications, or likely developments.

Opinion or Commentary

Clearly signposted argument, perspective, or viewpoint. Opinion must still be grounded in fact and must not contain defamatory falsehoods or misrepresentations.

Review

A critical assessment of a book, product, service, event, speech, creative work, or public output.

Our readers should never have to guess whether a piece is reporting, interpretation, or opinion.

Conflicts of interest

Editorial staff must avoid actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.

Personal, political, financial, family, or business relationships must not shape coverage. Relevant conflicts must be disclosed internally and managed before publication.

As a general principle:

• We pay our own way where possible
• We do not accept gifts, favours, or special treatment that could compromise independence
• We do not accept payment from people, companies, governments, or organisations we cover
• outside work, speaking engagements, consulting, and advocacy must not undermine newsroom’s credibility

Political activity and advocacy

Editorial staff should avoid partisan political activity or public advocacy that may reasonably call their independence into question in areas they cover.

This does not prevent journalists from having views. It does require them to protect the credibility of their reporting and the integrity of the publication.

Privacy, dignity, and vulnerable people

We respect privacy and human dignity.

Not everything that interests the public is in the public interest. We weigh carefully whether publication is justified, especially where private lives, grief, trauma, children, survivors of violence, or vulnerable persons are involved.

We take particular care in coverage involving:

• children
• victims of violence or sexual offences
• grieving families
• refugees and migrants
• persons at risk of intimidation or retaliation
• people in distress or shock

We do not identify children or vulnerable people where doing so may cause unjustified harm, unless there is a compelling and lawful public-interest reason.

Discrimination and harmful content

We do not publish discriminatory or denigratory references unless they are genuinely relevant to the story and handled with precision and care.

We avoid unnecessary emphasis on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, disability, sexuality, immigration status, health condition, or other personal characteristics unless that information is material to the reporting.

We do not publish hate speech, incitement, or dehumanising content.

Court, crime, and legal risk reporting

We report on courts, criminal allegations, legal disputes, investigations, and public accusations with caution.

We do not treat an allegation as guilt. We use language that reflects the legal status of a matter, including terms such as alleged, accused, arrested, charged, or convicted where appropriate.

We take care not to prejudice legal proceedings, breach court restrictions, unlawfully identify protected persons, or publish material that could expose the publication to avoidable legal risk.

Visual standards

Images, captions, graphics, videos, and other visual elements must be accurate and not materially misleading.

We do not deceptively manipulate visual material. We may make standard editorial adjustments for clarity or formatting, but not in a way that distorts reality.

If graphic or disturbing material has clear editorial value, we may publish it with appropriate restraint and warning.

Artificial intelligence policy

PanAfrican Post may use artificial intelligence tools to support newsroom workflows, but not to replace editorial judgment.

AI may assist with tasks such as transcription, translation, research support, document sorting, summarisation, and workflow efficiency. Any such use remains subject to human oversight.

We do not use AI to fabricate facts, quotes, sources, citations, events, or evidence.

We do not present AI-generated or materially AI-altered visuals as real without clear disclosure.

Any content produced with the assistance of AI must be checked by a human editor before publication. Accuracy cannot be assumed simply because a machine generated the output.

Social media and newsletters

Our standards apply across our website, newsletters, and social platforms.

A different format does not mean a lower standard. A newsletter may be more direct in tone. A social post may be shorter. But both must still be accurate, fair, and responsible.

Editorial staff should not disclose confidential newsroom discussions, unpublished reporting, internal deliberations, or proprietary information on social media.

Community submissions and reader engagement

We welcome feedback, letters, and reader engagement. However, we reserve the right to moderate, edit, decline, or remove submissions, comments, or user-generated content that is unlawful, defamatory, abusive, misleading, invasive of privacy, discriminatory, or otherwise inconsistent with our standards.

Corrections policy

Trust depends on what a newsroom does after a mistake, not just before publication.

PanAfrican Post corrects material errors promptly, clearly, and transparently.

When we issue a correction

We issue a correction when published material contains a meaningful factual error, including an incorrect name, date, title, figure, quotation, location, image identification, or statement that materially affects reader understanding.

Minor typographical or grammatical errors that do not change meaning may be fixed without a formal correction note.

Types of editorial updates

Correction
Used when something factual was wrong.

Clarification
Used when wording was imprecise, incomplete, or capable of misleading readers.

Editor’s Note
Used when important additional context is needed after publication, including where a dispute, challenge, legal development, or reporting concern must be explained to readers.

Retraction or removal
Reserved for serious cases such as fabricated material, plagiarism, unlawful publication, fundamentally unreliable reporting, or another compelling legal or ethical reason.

How corrections appear

When a material correction is made:

• We update the article itself
• We add a clear note explaining what was wrong and what has been corrected
• We do not quietly fix substantive errors in a way that hides the original problem from readers

Where appropriate, we may also correct related headlines, captions, graphics, newsletters, and social posts.

Newsletter and social media corrections

If a material error appears in a newsletter, we will correct the web version promptly and may publish a correction in a subsequent newsletter where appropriate.

If a material error appears on social media, we may delete, repost, or reply with a correction depending on what best preserves an accurate public record.

Requests for correction

To report a possible error, please contact us at:

Corrections: [corrections@panafricanpost.com]
Editorial enquiries: [editor@panafricanpost.com]