Editorial Standards

UAN World is editorially independent.

No government, political party, advertiser, investor, sponsor, donor, or subscriber has editorial control over our reporting. Funding sources, ownership structure, and material commercial relationships are disclosed in our annual transparency report.

We do not accept story placements, "advertorial as news," or coverage tied to commercial consideration. We do not allow funders to review stories before publication. We do not allow advertisers to dictate coverage of themselves, their competitors, or their critics.

When we have a real or perceived conflict on a specific story, we disclose it inside the story — at the top, in plain language.

Every story published by UAN World passes a structured editorial pipeline. The pipeline is enforced in software — stories cannot advance to publication until each gate is cleared.

1. Signal detection. Stories are surfaced from verified news sources, government feeds, official documents, social signals, partner organisations, and contributor submissions. Provenance is recorded for every signal.
2. Research and sourcing. Reporters and SME voices build the story from primary sources wherever possible. Secondary reporting is attributed. Single-source stories are flagged and require a Senior Editor's explicit sign-off.
3. AI-assisted fact-checking. Claims are assessed for verifiability, source credibility, internal consistency, and legal risk. The AI layer assists; it does not decide. Any story containing unverified or contested claims is held for human review.
4. Human editorial review. Every story is reviewed by a trained editor before publication. High-sensitivity stories — those involving named individuals, allegations of wrongdoing, security matters, public health claims, or political consequence — require Senior Editor sign-off and, where appropriate, legal review.
5. Breaking news protocol. Time-sensitive stories follow an expedited but still human-gated process. A mandatory confirmation window applies before any breaking story is published. We would rather be second and right than first and wrong.
6. Post-publication monitoring. Every published story is monitored for new information, source retractions, and corrections in the public record. Where the story changes, we change with it — visibly.

We name sources wherever it is safe and possible to do so. Anonymous sourcing is granted only when the information is in the public interest, cannot be obtained on the record, and the source faces credible risk of harm or retaliation.

When we publish on anonymous sourcing, we tell the reader why the source is unnamed and what category of source they are (e.g. "a senior official with direct knowledge of the negotiations"). We do not invent attribution. We do not use anonymous sources to launder opinion or speculation.

We do not pay sources for information, interviews, or access. Legitimate expenses (travel, secure communications) may be reimbursed and are recorded.

We protect whistleblowers. UAN World maintains secure intake channels for sensitive material, including end-to-end encrypted submission paths and an anonymous Telegram tip-line. We will resist legal and political pressure to identify confidential sources, up to and including the personal cost to the organisation.

Detailed protections are documented in our Source Protection Statement.

UAN World operates a tiered contributor system. Every voice has a path in. Every path has standards.

• Anonymous Tipster. Can submit signals and tips through secure channels. Tips are treated as leads, not stories — they are independently verified before any reporting.
• Community Reporter. Identity verified by UAN, public byline may be a pseudonym where safety requires it, contributions reviewed by a staff editor.
• Verified Contributor. Identity, credentials, and conflict-of-interest disclosures on file. Eligible for byline and revenue share.
• Vetted Journalist. Full background verification, professional history confirmed, signed contributor agreement, bound by these standards.

Tier determines what a contributor can publish, where it appears, and how prominently. No tier bypasses the editorial pipeline.

Editors, reporters, SME voices, and contributors must disclose any financial, personal, professional, or political relationship with the subject of a story — before reporting begins, not after publication.

Disclosed conflicts may be managed through reassignment, recusal, supervisory oversight, or transparent disclosure inside the story. Undisclosed conflicts are grounds for retraction and termination of the contributor relationship.

Gifts, paid travel, and hospitality from story subjects or industries we cover are not accepted. Modest, openly disclosed exceptions (e.g. press-pool access, embargoed briefings under standard terms) are governed by internal policy.

We correct errors promptly and transparently.

• Corrections are appended to the story with the date, the original wording, and the corrected wording. The headline is updated where the error materially affected it.
• Updates (new information that does not invalidate the original reporting) are added with a clear timestamp.
• Retractions are reserved for stories that cannot stand. A retraction notice replaces the original story at the same URL and explains what was wrong and why.

We do not silently edit. We do not delete to avoid embarrassment.

To report an error, write to corrections@uanworld.com with the URL, the specific claim, and any supporting evidence. We acknowledge corrections requests within 48 hours.

UAN World distinguishes between news, analysis, and opinion — visibly and consistently.

• News reports verified facts.
• Analysis interprets those facts within evidence and stated reasoning. Analysis is labelled.
• Opinion is the author's perspective, argued on the record. It is labelled, bylined, and lives in the Opinion lane or behind clear visual treatment elsewhere on the site.

Opinion pieces represent the views of the author, not UAN World's editorial position. UAN World does not publish unsigned editorials representing a "house view" without that label being unambiguous.

UAN World is an AI-powered media platform. We are transparent about what that means.

What AI does in our pipeline. AI assists with signal detection, research aggregation, source-credibility scoring, claim extraction, fact-checking support, transcription, translation, draft scripting, and asset planning.

What humans do. Humans decide what to report, how to frame it, whom to interview, what to verify, what to publish, and what to retract. Every published story is reviewed and approved by a human editor. SME voices are guided by human-defined personas with human oversight.

What AI does not do, ever. AI does not publish autonomously. AI does not make legal or ethical judgement calls. AI is not used to generate fabricated quotes, synthetic interviews, or imagery presented as real. AI-generated illustrations, where used, are clearly labelled.

Audit and accountability. Every AI-assisted step in the pipeline is logged with model, version, input, and output. This audit trail is internally reviewable and available to regulators and researchers under appropriate terms.

Training data and model use. We use commercial AI providers under terms that do not surrender our editorial content as training data without consent. Where we use open or self-hosted models, the same standard applies.

Editorial and commercial operations at UAN World are separated by a firewall.

• Sponsored content is clearly labelled as "Sponsored" or "Paid Promotion," visually distinct from editorial, and structurally segregated in our content management system.
• Sponsored content is never published on the home page, on breaking news, or on the Kids lane.
• The editorial team retains veto power over any sponsored content and over any commercial relationship that conflicts with our standards.
• Display advertising is served without editorial involvement in placement against specific stories. Advertisers cannot purchase favourable coverage or exclusion of unfavourable coverage.
• Subscription numbers and revenue performance do not pressure editorial decisions. This is reviewed quarterly.

If you believe a commercial relationship has influenced our coverage, tell us at corrections@uanworld.com and we will investigate publicly.

Plagiarism is grounds for immediate retraction and termination of the contributor relationship. We give credit — to original reporters, to primary sources, to scholars and analysts whose work informs ours, and to competitor publications who broke the story first.

Aggregation and summarisation are legitimate forms of journalism when sources are linked and credited prominently. Lifting reporting without attribution is not.

People we report on — including those accused of wrongdoing — are entitled to fair treatment.

• We seek comment from the subject of any critical story before publication, with reasonable time to respond. Where time pressure prevents this, we say so and update the story when a response is received.
• We do not publish allegations without evidence proportionate to their seriousness.
• We distinguish between charges, allegations, and convictions.
• We do not publish identifying details of victims of sexual violence, of minors involved in legal proceedings, or of people whose identification could endanger their safety, except where consent is given or strict public-interest tests are met.

Public figures accept scrutiny of their public conduct. Private citizens retain a higher expectation of privacy. We publish private information only when it is materially relevant to a matter of public interest, and we weigh the harm of publication against the value to the public.

Personal data submitted to UAN World — by readers, contributors, tipsters, or commenters — is governed by our Privacy Policy and applicable law, including GDPR and Pan-African data protection frameworks. We support reader requests to access, correct, or delete personal data within those frameworks.

Stories involving children, victims of violence, refugees, people in mental health crisis, and other vulnerable persons receive heightened editorial care.

• Identifying information about minors is published only with verified parental or guardian consent, or under strict public-interest tests with Senior Editor sign-off.
• The Kids lane is governed by its own additional standards covering age-appropriate content, advertising, and contributor verification.
• Imagery of suffering, grief, or trauma is used only where the public-interest value outweighs the dignity cost to those depicted.

We do not publish graphic content for shock value. Where graphic imagery is necessary to convey the truth of a story (conflict, disaster, public health), we:

• Provide a content warning before the image is displayed.
• Offer a non-graphic alternative wherever possible.
• Never publish identifying imagery of victims without consent or strict public-interest justification.
• Label AI-generated, AI-enhanced, or composite imagery clearly.

UAN World is built to tell African stories from African perspectives — across countries, languages, religions, ethnicities, classes, genders, and the diaspora.

We actively seek voices and sources that have historically been under-represented in coverage of the continent. We avoid framing African stories through external lenses by default. We treat African subjects, languages, place names, and contexts with the same rigour and accuracy we would apply to any major story anywhere.

This is not a courtesy. It is the editorial reason this platform exists.

UAN World journalists, editors, and contributors represent the brand on public channels. Personal social media use is permitted and encouraged, subject to these limits:

• No publication of stories or scoops on personal channels before publication on UAN World.
• No partisan endorsement on stories the journalist personally covers.
• No undisclosed financial or commercial relationships with story subjects.
• No harassment, doxxing, or threats — directed at anyone, by anyone associated with UAN World, ever.

Violations are handled through internal disciplinary process up to and including termination.

We are accountable to our audience.

• Reader feedback and corrections: corrections@uanworld.com
• Editorial complaints: if a reader is not satisfied with our response to a correction or complaint, the matter is escalated to the Senior Editorial Board, whose decision is published.
• Independent review: material editorial failures are reviewed by a designated independent reviewer, who reports publicly at least annually.
• Transparency report: we publish an annual transparency report covering funding, ownership, corrections issued, retractions, legal actions, and AI use in the newsroom.

These standards apply to all content published under the UAN World banner — on uanworld.com, in UAN newsletters, on UAN social and video channels, on UAN's Telegram channels, and in any future mobile or partner distribution.

They apply to all staff, all contributors at every verification tier, all freelancers, and all syndicated partners using UAN's editorial workflow.

They are reviewed at least annually and updated as the platform, the technology, and the regulatory environment evolve. Material updates are logged in the version history below.

For editorial feedback, corrections, complaints, story tips, source protection enquiries, and press:

• Corrections, right of reply, editorial complaints: corrections@uanworld.com
• Story tips and news leads: tips@uanworld.com
• Legal notices and source protection demands: legal@uanworld.com
• Press, partnerships, syndication, research: press@uanworld.com
• Privacy and data rights: privacy@uanworld.com
• General enquiries: info@uanworld.com

Sensitive material and source protection requests can be sent through our secure submission channels listed on the Source Protection page. Do not use ordinary email for material whose publication could put you at risk.