PatnaPress is a hyper- local English news website with the objective of providing impartial, high‑quality and distinctive news content to inform, educate and entertain people. PatnaPress is independent from any government, political or private influence or funding. The larger objective is to ensure freedom of speech along with accountability and always act in public interest.
Our editorial values:
PatnaPress adheres to highest editorial standards and never compromises on authenticity and creditability of any information shared on the platform. As a member of fourth estate, PatnaPress’s core editorial values are embedded in freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India. With highest standard of journalistic integrity, PatnaPress provides true, fair and accurate coverage.
Editorial guidelines:
PatnaPress believes in old school and ethical journalism while adapting to modern day technologies and challenges. Our team always accurate and balanced reporting and avoiding any sort of sensationalism or exaggeration. The basic principle is to present facts and information in fair and impartial manner and letter the readers form their own opinion.
- 5Ws and 1H: Considered the basic in information gathering, our journalists approach every story with the questions- What, Why, When, Where, Who and How.
- Public Interest: While we cover news stories on diverse issues but priority is given to issues directly related to people. As fourth estate, we consider it our duty to be the voice of the people.
- Balance: Balance and impartiality are fundamental to the reputation of PatnaPress. We always present both sides of the story and avoid kind of biasness. Every last attempt is taken to reach out to the person against whom a story is adversely referred. We must be inclusive, considering broad perspective of issues and balance of viewpoints.
- Accuracy: Accuracy is at the core of journalism. All stories of PatnaPress should be well sourced, backed with sound evidence, and corroborated. We should be honest about what we don’t know and never allow distortion of facts.
- Third party information: In today’s digital era, news stories at times generate from third party, including material from the internet and social media. While the priority should be to get the information first hand, thorough scrutiny should be done for third party information and properly attributed.
- Privacy and consent: While we report on issues concerning people at large but we should also ensure that we do not infringe in anyone’s privacy. When infringing anyone’s privacy is outweighed by public interest, then also we should take all possible steps to take consent from the person concerned and how we intend to use it. It should also ideally not cause any offence, distress or prejudice.
- Avoiding sensationalism and misleading audience: In the age of cut- throat competition and “who breaks the news first”, PatnaPress follows the policy of not getting in the “rat race”. This will avoid misleading audience with incomplete and incorrect information. Besides, taking out the pressure on reporters of “getting maximum eyeballs” will avoid sensationalism to some extent. Our stories will present the facts and information in plain and simple manner without any exaggeration.
- Corrections: As responsible journalists, we must acknowledge factual errors and correct such mistakes quickly, clearly and appropriately. The simplest way of correcting any factual error is accepting what was wrong and putting it right with an apology to the readers or parties concerned. We at PatnaPress encourage our journalists to point out mistakes in their stories without any fear of adverse action.
- User generated content: We encourage and invite people from cross section of the society to write to us on issues concerning them but at the same time due scrutiny will be done before publishing such user- generated content. It is done to ensure that content is not supplied by a member of a lobby group or any person with vested interests. PatnaPress will apply due diligence in publishing user- generated content, rather than being a disinterested bystander.
