Editorial Policy

Harbinger Post — harbingerpost.com — Last updated: June 10, 2026

1. Mission and Editorial Independence

Harbinger Post is a digital news publication dedicated to rigorous, independent, and impartial coverage of news and current affairs with a primary focus on Europe. Our editorial mission is to inform the public by providing accurate, balanced, and contextualised reporting that serves the public interest across the European continent and beyond.

Editorial decisions at Harbinger Post are made exclusively on journalistic grounds and in the public interest. Our newsroom operates independently of commercial, political, and ownership interests. Advertisers, commercial partners, investors, and other business stakeholders have no influence over editorial content, story selection, framing, or publication decisions. The separation between commercial and editorial functions is an inviolable principle of our organisation.

2. Adherence to Professional Standards

Harbinger Post is committed to the following internationally recognised professional standards:

Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics: We uphold the four pillars: seek truth and report it; minimise harm; act independently; be accountable and transparent.
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists (1954, as revised in 2019): We commit to the principles of truthfulness, fairness, thoroughness, and independence enshrined in the IFJ Declaration.
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) ethical standards: As a publication focused on Europe, we draw on the EFJ's framework for ethical journalism in the European context, including standards for reporting on minority communities, political affairs, and EU institutions.
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): We endorse the CPJ's principles on press freedom, the safety of journalists, and the protection of confidential sources.
Ethical Journalism Network (EJN): We apply EJN's five principles of accuracy and fact-checking, independence, fairness and impartiality, humanity, and accountability.

3. Accuracy and Fact-Checking

Accuracy is the bedrock of credible journalism. Our editorial process is designed to minimise error and to correct errors promptly and transparently when they occur. Our accuracy standards include:

Multi-source verification: All material facts published in our reporting are, wherever practicable, verified through at least two independent sources. Where single-source claims are published, they are clearly attributed to the source.
Primary source priority: We prioritise primary documentary evidence, official publications, direct testimony, and authoritative data over secondary or derivative sources. Where we rely on secondary sources, we identify them clearly.
Pre-publication editorial review: All articles are reviewed by editorial staff before publication for factual accuracy, completeness, balance, contextualisation, and compliance with this Editorial Policy.
EU and European institutional data: For reporting on EU policy, legislation, and institutions, we verify claims against official EUR-Lex records, the Official Journal of the European Union, European Parliament proceedings, and data from Eurostat and the European Central Bank.
National statistics: Economic and social data about European countries is verified against the data of national statistical agencies (such as the UK's ONS, Germany's Destatis, France's INSEE) and cross-referenced with Eurostat.
Scientific and technical claims: Claims of a scientific or technical nature are assessed against peer-reviewed literature and the consensus positions of relevant scientific bodies. We do not present fringe or discredited scientific claims as equivalent to the scientific consensus.

4. Impartiality and Balance

Harbinger Post does not endorse political parties, candidates, governments, or ideological movements in any European country or at the EU level. On matters of genuine political and social controversy, we present the range of credible and significant perspectives in proportion to their evidential support and public significance. We are committed to proportionate, not false, balance: we do not artificially elevate fringe views or conspiracy theories to parity with mainstream evidence-based positions, but we do not suppress legitimate minority viewpoints.

We apply consistent editorial standards across the European political spectrum and across the EU's Member States and candidate countries, without systematic bias toward any country, language group, political tradition, or institutional interest.

5. European Focus and Regional Editorial Standards

As a publication with a primary focus on Europe, Harbinger Post covers the European Union and its institutions, the broader European continent including non-EU members, and European affairs in a global context. Our region-specific standards include:

EU institutional coverage: We report on the European Parliament, European Commission, Council of the EU, European Court of Justice, European Central Bank, and other EU bodies with reference to official documentation, the EUR-Lex database, and the Transparency Register. We distinguish between official EU positions, Member State positions, and independent analysis.
National political coverage: Coverage of national politics in EU Member States and other European countries draws on local independent media, national political sources, and country-specific expert commentary. We are attentive to the specific institutional and constitutional frameworks of each country.
Human rights: Human rights reporting is benchmarked against the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission standards.
Conflict reporting: Coverage of armed conflicts affecting Europe and its borders (including in Ukraine and the Western Balkans) follows ICRC guidelines for responsible conflict journalism. We verify casualty figures and military developments through authoritative sources and disclose limitations on independent verification.
Migration and asylum: Reporting on migration, asylum, and refugee issues follows Ethical Journalism Network guidelines on sensitive reporting, avoids dehumanising language, and draws on data from UNHCR, IOM, Frontex, and Eurostat as well as testimony from affected individuals and civil society organisations.
Elections: Coverage of European elections, national elections, and referenda is factual, impartial, and based on official electoral data, authoritative projections, and credible expert analysis. We do not advocate for any candidate, party, or outcome.

6. Independence from Commercial Interests

Harbinger Post currently operates without advertising revenue. We do not accept sponsored content, native advertising, or commercial partnerships that could create conflicts of interest with our editorial independence. If we introduce commercial arrangements in the future, they will be subject to a strict separation of commercial and editorial functions, with any commercial content clearly and prominently labelled as such, and produced entirely separately from our news operation.

Journalists and contributors are required to disclose any financial interests or personal relationships that could create or appear to create a conflict of interest with their reporting. We do not permit the publication of content by individuals covering entities in which they have an undisclosed financial stake.

7. Source Protection

The protection of confidential sources is a fundamental principle of press freedom and is essential for enabling public interest journalism on sensitive matters of European politics, governance, and institutional affairs. Harbinger Post will not identify or disclose a confidential source except in the following exceptional circumstances and only after exhausting all available legal remedies: (a) where the source has explicitly consented to disclosure; or (b) where we are compelled by a lawful and final court order in a jurisdiction that provides adequate procedural protections including access to legal counsel.

Our source protection commitment is consistent with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the extensive jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on source protection (including Goodwin v. United Kingdom [1996] and subsequent cases), and EU data protection law. We use secure communication channels for contact with confidential sources and retain no unnecessary identifying information.

8. Corrections and Accountability

We take factual errors seriously and correct them promptly and visibly. Our corrections procedure:

Minor corrections: Typographical errors, minor factual corrections, and clarifications are made to the relevant article with a correction note appended at the bottom of the article indicating what was corrected and on what date.
Significant corrections: Where a material factual error has been published, a prominent correction notice is added to the article explaining the nature of the error and the correct information.
Updates: When an ongoing story develops significantly after initial publication, the article is updated with a clearly marked “Updated: [date]” notice and a brief description of what has been added or changed.
Retractions: Where a published story is found to be fundamentally and substantially inaccurate in a way that cannot be adequately addressed by correction, we will retract the story. Retracted content is replaced with a clear retraction notice explaining the grounds for retraction. We do not silently delete articles without public notice.
Right of reply: Individuals or organisations that are the subject of significant critical coverage and who wish to respond will be given a reasonable opportunity to do so, with their response published alongside or following the relevant article where appropriate.

To report an error, please contact us at support@harbingerpressmedia.com. We investigate all credible error reports promptly and respond within a reasonable time.

9. Conflicts of Interest

All journalists, editors, and regular contributors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest in relation to any story they are covering or contributing to. This includes financial interests, personal relationships, prior employment, and affiliations with organisations relevant to the story. Editorial management assesses disclosed conflicts and determines whether the relevant journalist should be recused from the story. All conflict disclosures are documented internally.

10. Artificial Intelligence in Journalism

Harbinger Post may use artificial intelligence tools to assist in research, information gathering, translation, and initial drafting. The use of AI tools in our editorial process is subject to the following mandatory requirements:

All AI-assisted content must be reviewed, edited, fact-checked, and approved by a qualified human journalist before publication.
AI-generated text, images, or other content must not be published without substantive human editorial oversight and verification of all factual claims.
AI tools must not be used to generate fabricated quotes, invented sources, or fictional events.
The use of AI assistance in content production will be disclosed to readers in accordance with applicable industry standards as they develop.
We do not permit our Content to be used to train AI systems without prior authorisation; see our Terms and Conditions for our AI training opt-out.

11. Privacy in Reporting

We recognise the tension between the public interest in journalism and individuals' rights to privacy and dignity. We apply proportionality in reporting and the following specific principles:

The private lives of public figures are generally not newsworthy unless directly relevant to their exercise of public functions or trust.
Private individuals not in public life are treated with heightened sensitivity. We do not identify private individuals in reporting unless there is a clear public interest justification.
Victims of sexual violence, abuse, or harassment are not identified without their explicit consent.
Minors are generally not identified in reporting about criminal matters, child protection concerns, or other sensitive subjects, regardless of the minor's nationality.
We do not engage in or condone surveillance, hacking, or other unlawful newsgathering methods.
We apply the standards of the Council of Europe and the ECHR on the right to respect for private life (Article 8 ECHR) in evaluating privacy-related editorial decisions.

12. Diversity and Inclusion in Coverage

We are committed to ensuring that our coverage of Europe reflects the full diversity of European society, including diverse national, regional, ethnic, linguistic, religious, gender, socioeconomic, and generational perspectives. We follow Ethical Journalism Network guidance on avoiding stereotyping, on responsible reporting about minority and marginalised communities, and on ensuring that our sourcing is diverse and representative. We do not use language that dehumanises any group of people.

13. Compliance and Accountability

This Editorial Policy represents our public commitment to professional journalism standards. We publish this Policy prominently and review it at least annually. Readers who believe we have violated this Policy or who wish to raise concerns about our editorial conduct are encouraged to contact us at support@harbingerpressmedia.com. We take all complaints about editorial conduct seriously and will respond within a reasonable time.

14. Contact

For editorial matters, corrections, or complaints:
Harbinger Bros. LLC
1309 Coffeen Avenue, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States
Email: support@harbingerpressmedia.com