Daily News Blend reports under a simple rule: readers should be able to finish a story knowing what is established, what is attributed and what is still unknown. This Code of Ethics sets out the standards every desk follows, and readers may hold us to it through the Contact and Corrections pages.
Accuracy comes first. Every news story is checked against at least two reputable sources before publication. Names, dates, figures, titles and background are verified against the strongest available material, including official documents, public records, direct remarks and established reporting. A claim that can only be supported by one source is held, labelled or framed with clear caution. If we do not know something, we say so rather than filling the gap with plausible detail.
Attribution is honest. Official statements are credited to the officials who made them. Company announcements are reported as company claims, not as independently verified facts. Study findings are described as what researchers found in the population and method studied, with material limits noted. Rumours in sport, entertainment and politics are identified as rumours or left out. Anonymous sourcing is used sparingly, only where the information is important and cannot be obtained on the record, and the reason for anonymity is explained where we can do so without exposing the source.
We do not invent people. Stories carry named staff desk bylines, and each desk's archive page gives an honest biography of that desk: its beat, its method and its accountability. We do not create fictional reporters, fake credentials, invented datelines or AI headshots presented as staff. Images of real people are licensed and credited, and featured images are checked visually before publication under the outlet's decency standard. No image is published for shock value, and entertainment coverage follows the same standard as every other section.
Independence is protected. Advertisers, sponsors and partners do not choose, approve, edit or suppress stories. Sponsored material, where accepted, is labelled. Desks decline gifts, payments or favours intended to influence coverage, and conflicts of interest are disclosed in the story where they are relevant to a reader's judgment. Political coverage reports claims from all sides with the same verification standard and does not campaign for a candidate or party.
Fairness means giving subjects a chance to respond where a story contains significant criticism or allegations, reporting their response accurately, and avoiding language that stereotypes people by race, religion, nationality, gender, disability or other protected characteristics. Victims of crime and people in distress are treated with dignity, private individuals are not named where naming them serves no public interest, and children receive particular care in both reporting and images.
Corrections are public. Errors are handled under the published Corrections policy. Confirmed factual errors are fixed, material changes are noted on the story, and developing stories are updated rather than left to mislead. Removing a story is a last resort, reserved for material that should not have been published, and is explained where it happens.
Daily News Blend is published by 24World Media, 1411 N Sterling Ave, Palatine, IL 60067. Every desk works to this code, the outlet publishes it so readers can enforce it, and breaches brought to our attention through the Contact page are reviewed by the responsible desk and, where necessary, the publisher.
Enforcement and training
This code is a working document, not a wall decoration. New desk contributors are expected to read it together with the Corrections, Privacy and Disclaimer pages. Significant breaches are reviewed by the publisher, and the remedy may include correction, retraining, restriction of publishing duties or removal from a desk, depending on seriousness and intent. Honest mistakes, promptly corrected, are treated differently from fabrication, plagiarism or undisclosed conflicts, which are fundamental breaches.
Plagiarism and originality
Our stories are written in our own words from verified source material. Brief, attributed quotation may be used where the exact wording matters, but copying another outlet's text, structure or distinctive expression is prohibited. Where another organisation's reporting leads us to a development, we verify it ourselves where possible and credit the reporting where credit is due.
