Ethics and fact-checking

Fact-checking

• Names, dates, numbers and quotes are verified against primary sources, official records or direct contact wherever possible.
• Claims about a person or organisation are put to them for comment before publication, where that is reasonably possible.
• We link to primary sources so readers can check for themselves.

Standards for The Goss

Celebrity and entertainment stories are held to the same standard as news:

• Every claim is attributed to a named source, an on-the-record statement, a court or public record, or a verified social post.
• Anonymous sources are only used where we know who they are and have good reason to trust them, and we say how we know.
• We label anything unconfirmed, and we do not publish allegations about private individuals.
• We do not publish intrusive images or content obtained by illegal means, and we respect privacy, particularly for children.
• We take defamation, privacy and harmful digital communications law seriously and take legal advice on sensitive stories.

Sources and confidentiality

We protect confidential sources. We do not pay for information in news reporting.

Conflicts of interest

Staff declare conflicts of interest and do not report on matters where they have a personal or financial stake. Gifts, freebies and affiliate relationships are disclosed. Sponsored content is always labelled.

Children and vulnerable people

We take extra care when reporting on children, victims of crime and people in distress, and we follow New Zealand law on name suppression and court reporting. We follow safe-reporting guidelines on suicide.

Corrections

See our Corrections policy.