Editorial standards
Editorial guidelines for reporting, opinion and live coverage
These standards define how Antigua & Barbuda News handles sourcing, verification, corrections, live coverage, opinion and reader-facing transparency. They are intended to support a credible, institutional newsroom workflow rather than a casual publishing model.
Accuracy
Published reporting must be sourced, checked and corrected quickly when material errors are confirmed.
Attribution
Facts, quotes, visuals and claims should be attributed clearly enough for readers to understand how information was obtained.
Independence
Editorial decisions should be made in the public interest and not shaped by commercial pressure, personal relationships or political loyalty.
Separation of formats
News, live coverage, analysis, opinion and reader letters must be labelled clearly and edited according to the format.
Sensitivity
Coverage should avoid gratuitous harm, especially in cases involving minors, trauma, crime, death or private individuals.
Transparency
Material updates, conflicts disclosures and significant corrections should be visible to readers in the published item or its policy trail.
How live coverage is handled
Live coverage pages are reserved for fast-moving events where a single chronological file improves reader understanding. Updates should be time-stamped, concise, factual and reviewed before publication whenever conditions allow.
When a live page ends, the status must be updated clearly. Summary follow-up articles should complement the live page rather than duplicate its role, and significant retrospective corrections should remain visible in the archive.
Opinion, sponsored material and community submissions
Opinion pieces and editorials must be labelled clearly. They are not presented as straight news reporting.
Commercial or sponsored content should not imitate newsroom articles without explicit disclosure.
Letters to the editor may be edited for length, clarity, legal risk and factual accuracy while preserving the writer’s core meaning.