Editorial Policy
The Thursday Times exists to report the news accurately and fairly, and to serve the people who read it. This policy sets out the principles that guide our reporting and our editorial decisions. It applies to everything we publish, in English and Urdu, on the website, in our newsletters and alerts, on Westline and on our social media accounts.
Accuracy
We report facts, and we check them before we publish. We prefer sources who speak on the record and documents we have seen ourselves, and we say where our information comes from. We use anonymous sources only when there is no other way to report a story in the public interest, and only when an editor knows who they are.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we correct it promptly and openly. A correction says what was wrong and what is right, and appears at the foot of the story. We do not quietly change the facts of a published story. If you see an error, tell us at pr@thursdaytimes.com.
Fairness
We aim to present every significant side of an issue, and to give people we report on, especially people we criticise, a fair chance to respond before we publish. We do not let personal or political bias shape our reporting.
Responsibility
Our words can shape public opinion and public policy, and we use that power with care. We present issues with balance and nuance. We do not sensationalise violence or tragedy, and we take particular care with children, victims of crime and people in distress.
Independence
Our editorial decisions are made by our editors alone. No advertiser, sponsor, supporter, owner, government or political party decides what we report or how. Readers who support the paper with a payment receive no say over our coverage.
News, opinion and advertising
We keep news, opinion and advertising apart. Opinion pieces are labelled as opinion and express the views of their authors, not of The Thursday Times. The paper’s own view appears in editorials, published under The Editorial Desk. Advertising is always labelled as an advertisement, as sponsored, or as paid for by the advertiser, and our journalists do not write it.
Pictures
We credit every photograph, video and illustration. We use photographs from our own reporters and from news agencies we license. When a picture is an illustration, it is drawn to look like one. We do not publish computer-generated images made to look like news photographs, and we do not alter news photographs in ways that mislead.
Artificial intelligence
Our journalism is reported, written and edited by people. We use artificial intelligence to help produce some Urdu and other-language versions of our stories and to read stories aloud, and our editors remain responsible for what we publish. Thursday AI, our question-and-answer service, answers only from our own reporting and the official record, shows its sources and says so when it cannot answer; its sources policy explains how it works.
Transparency
We are open about how we work and how we make editorial decisions. Our writers and editors disclose any conflict of interest to the desk, and we declare it to readers when it is relevant to a story.
Diversity
We value diversity, and we seek out a wide range of voices and perspectives, from every province and in both of our languages.
Community
We are committed to serving our readers and to being a source of news and information they can trust.
If you believe anything we have published, whether a report, editorial, column or contribution, falls short of this policy, please tell us at pr@thursdaytimes.com.
