Boundary Sentinel Editorial Standards
The Boundary Sentinel is an independent online news publication serving Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway, Christina Lake, Rock Creek, Beaverdell,
and Big White and communities throughout the Boundary region of British Columbia.
Our purpose is to provide accurate, fair and useful journalism about the decisions, institutions, events and people affecting the region.
We believe local journalism carries a responsibility to the public. That responsibility applies whether a story concerns a major public institution, a small community organization, a local business or an individual resident.
These standards apply to the Boundary Sentinel’s owner, editors, reporters, freelancers, photographers and regular contributors. They guide our original reporting, editing, photography, commentary, submitted material and use of information from other sources.
No policy can anticipate every editorial decision. When circumstances are not specifically addressed here, we will apply the principles of accuracy, fairness, independence, transparency, proportionality and public interest.
Accuracy
Accuracy is the foundation of our journalism.
We make reasonable efforts to verify information before publication. The level of verification required depends on the nature of the information, the reliability of its source, the seriousness of the claim and the potential consequences of getting it wrong.
We check names, dates, locations, titles, quotations, figures and other verifiable details. Whenever reasonably possible, we consult original documents, direct witnesses and knowledgeable sources rather than relying entirely on summaries or secondhand accounts.
Speed does not excuse avoidable inaccuracy. In a developing situation, we may publish what has been reliably confirmed while clearly identifying what remains uncertain. We will update the story as credible new information becomes available.
We distinguish between:
facts we have independently verified;
information attributed to a source or document;
allegations that have not been proven;
analysis or interpretation;
and opinion.
Press releases, government statements, police announcements, social-media posts and statements from organizations are sources of information. They are not automatically treated as independent proof of every claim they contain.
Headlines, photographs, captions, social-media posts and promotional descriptions must accurately reflect the journalism they accompany. A technically accurate headline should not create a substantially misleading impression.
Verification of digital material
Information found online is subject to the same standards as information obtained elsewhere.
Before relying on photographs, videos, social-media posts or other digital material, we consider:
who originally created or posted it;
when and where it was created;
whether it has been altered or taken out of context;
whether the account or source is authentic;
and whether other evidence supports what it appears to show.
The fact that material is publicly available online does not necessarily mean it is accurate, ethically appropriate to republish or free from copyright restrictions.
Fairness
Fairness requires more than repeating competing statements. It requires presenting significant facts and perspectives honestly, in proportion to the available evidence.
People and organizations facing serious criticism or allegations will ordinarily be given a reasonable opportunity to respond before publication. We will provide enough information about the criticism for them to respond meaningfully.
The amount of time allowed for a response will depend on the urgency of the story, the complexity of the allegations and the person’s reasonable availability. We will not allow a source to indefinitely prevent publication by refusing to respond.
When someone declines to comment, cannot be reached or does not respond by the publication deadline, we may say so. We keep reasonable records of attempts to obtain responses.
When an important response arrives after publication, we will consider whether the story should be updated.
Fairness does not require us to treat every claim as equally credible. We will not create false balance by presenting unsupported assertions as equivalent to established evidence.
People who are the subjects of journalism do not have a general right to approve a story before publication. In some cases, we may check a technical passage, chronology or specific fact with a knowledgeable source. This does not give that source editorial control.
Independence
The Boundary Sentinel makes editorial decisions independently.
Advertisers, sponsors, governments, political parties, public officials, businesses, community organizations, donors and sources do not determine what we report or how we report it.
Buying advertising or sponsored content does not entitle anyone to favourable news coverage, advance notice of unrelated stories, approval of independent reporting or removal of accurate information.
The Boundary Sentinel may report critically on an advertiser, sponsor or organization with which it has a business relationship. Editorial decisions are based on newsworthiness, evidence and public interest.
Acceptance of government, foundation or journalism-program funding will be publicly disclosed when appropriate. Funding will not give the funding body control over individual editorial decisions.
Conflicts of interest
Journalists and contributors must avoid conflicts that could improperly influence their work or reasonably undermine public confidence in it.
Potential conflicts may involve:
personal or family relationships;
employment or business relationships;
financial interests;
political activity;
membership in an organization being covered;
public advocacy concerning the subject of a story;
gifts, travel, discounts or services;
or any expectation of personal benefit.
Relevant conflicts must be disclosed to the editor before an assignment is accepted. Depending on the circumstances, the journalist may be removed from the story, additional reporting or editing safeguards may be used, or a disclosure may be included for readers.
The owner and editor of the Boundary Sentinel is subject to the same principle. A material personal, financial or organizational connection to the subject of a story will be disclosed when it is relevant to readers’ assessment of the journalism.
We do not use information obtained through journalism for improper personal, political or financial advantage.
Gifts, travel and hospitality
The Boundary Sentinel does not accept gifts or benefits that could reasonably be understood as payment for coverage or an attempt to influence journalism.
Incidental refreshments, routine access to public events and items of negligible value may be accepted when refusal would be impractical or discourteous and no editorial obligation is created.
Travel, accommodation, event admission or other substantial assistance provided by a source or organization must be disclosed to the editor. When accepting such assistance is necessary to report a story, that support may be disclosed to readers.
Sources and attribution
Named sources are preferred because they allow readers to assess the origin and credibility of information.
We identify the sources of factual claims, quotations, statistics and documents whenever doing so is relevant and safe. Attribution should be sufficiently clear that readers can distinguish the source’s statements from facts independently established by the Boundary Sentinel.
We do not present information first reported by another news organization as our own original reporting. When another outlet’s journalism contributes materially to a story, we credit it.
Public records, council agendas, court documents, reports, studies and databases should be described accurately. When appropriate, we link readers to the original material.
Reporters should make clear whether a conversation is on the record before sensitive information is exchanged. Arrangements involving background information, anonymity or confidentiality should be discussed explicitly rather than assumed.
Anonymous and confidential sources
Anonymous sources are used cautiously.
We may withhold a source’s identity when:
the information serves a meaningful public interest;
the source could face a credible risk of retaliation, harm or serious professional consequences;
the information cannot reasonably be obtained through an identified source;
the reporter knows the source’s identity;
the source is in a position to know the information;
and the source’s credibility and possible motives have been considered.
Important information from an anonymous source should be corroborated whenever reasonably possible.
Readers will ordinarily be given as much information as possible about the source’s position and reason for anonymity without revealing the person’s identity.
Anonymity will not normally be granted merely to allow a source to make personal attacks, promote an agenda without accountability or avoid embarrassment.
A promise of confidentiality is serious. Reporters must not make promises they may be unable to keep. The terms of confidentiality should be understood by both the source and the journalist.
Interviews and quotations
Reporters identify themselves and the Boundary Sentinel when conducting interviews unless an exceptional public-interest investigation justifies another approach.
Quotations must accurately reflect what a source said and meant. Minor editing may be used to remove obvious verbal repetition or improve readability, but not to change meaning, tone or context. When substantial editing is necessary, the information should generally be paraphrased rather than placed inside quotation marks.
A source cannot ordinarily withdraw an accurate on-the-record statement after the interview because the person later regrets making it. We may nevertheless consider requests involving personal safety, trauma, misunderstanding, vulnerability or other exceptional circumstances.
Recording interviews can improve accuracy. We will comply with applicable Canadian law and use additional care when a source may not reasonably understand the permanent and public nature of the interview.
Bylines and contributions
Original Boundary Sentinel reporting will ordinarily identify the reporter or reporters responsible for the story.
A staff byline may be used when several people made substantial contributions, when a short news item was compiled from official information, or when individual attribution would not accurately reflect how the item was produced.
Additional reporting, photography or material assistance may be credited at the end of an article.
Submitted announcements, press releases and material supplied by outside organizations will not be presented as independently reported staff journalism. The source of the material will be made clear through the byline, label or text of the article.
Journalism republished from another organization will carry the original journalist’s and publication’s credit as required.
News, analysis, opinion and submitted material
Readers should be able to understand what kind of content they are reading.
The Boundary Sentinel may publish:
News: Reporting based primarily on verified facts, documents, observation and interviews.
Analysis: Journalism that uses evidence and subject knowledge to explain the meaning or likely consequences of events. Analysis may contain interpretation but is not personal advocacy.
Opinion or commentary: A writer’s argument, assessment or personal perspective.
Editorial: An opinion expressed on behalf of the Boundary Sentinel.
Letter to the editor: A reader’s view, selected and edited for publication.
Submitted announcement: Material supplied by an organization, business, government body or member of the public.
Sponsored content: Material produced or published in exchange for payment or another commercial benefit.
Labels should be clear and visible. Opinion and submitted material remain subject to standards concerning factual accuracy, legality, disclosure and respectful treatment of others.
Publication of a letter, column or submitted contribution does not mean the Boundary Sentinel endorses every view it contains.
Advertising and sponsored content
Advertising and sponsored material must be distinguishable from independently produced journalism.
Paid material will be labelled with terms such as Sponsored, Advertisement, Paid Business Profile or another description that clearly communicates the commercial relationship.
Sponsored material will not be designed or described in a way intended to mislead readers into believing it is independent news reporting.
Advertisers may review sponsored material for factual accuracy and fulfillment of the commercial agreement. They do not have approval rights over independent journalism.
Sponsored content will not be represented as civic journalism or included among work funded through a journalism program unless the applicable program expressly permits it.
Commercial relationships do not guarantee future news coverage.
Corrections, clarifications and updates
The Boundary Sentinel corrects significant factual errors promptly and transparently after they have been verified.
A correction addresses information that was materially wrong.
A clarification addresses wording or context that was incomplete, ambiguous or capable of creating a mistaken impression.
An update adds important information that became available after publication.
Significant corrections will ordinarily include a note explaining what was wrong and providing the correct information. The original error will not be silently replaced when doing so could conceal a meaningful change to the published record.
Minor spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting or style changes that do not alter the substance of an article do not normally require a correction note.
We will also correct material errors in headlines, captions, photographs, newsletters and social-media posts when reasonably possible.
Readers may report a possible error through the Boundary Sentinel’s contact page. A correction request should identify the article, the disputed information and any supporting evidence.
We will review complaints fairly. We will not alter accurate reporting merely because it is unwelcome, embarrassing or disputed by someone involved.
Developing stories
News can change after an article is published.
We may update developing stories as new information becomes available. Material additions or changes will ordinarily be identified with an updated publication time or a note describing the development.
An update does not necessarily mean the original story contained an error.
When the subject of an earlier report changes significantly—for example, when charges are withdrawn, a missing person is found or an official decision is reversed—we will consider whether fairness and the public record require an update to the original article or a new follow-up story.
Unpublishing and removal requests
Publishing creates a public record. Accurate journalism will not ordinarily be removed because a person later regrets participating, experiences embarrassment or disagrees with the coverage.
Requests to remove or substantially alter published material will be considered individually. Relevant factors may include:
whether the information remains accurate;
its continuing public importance;
the seriousness of the harm;
the age and vulnerability of the person involved;
personal safety;
legal restrictions;
whether circumstances have materially changed;
and whether a less drastic remedy is available.
Possible alternatives include a correction, clarification, update, follow-up story, removal of unnecessary personal information, anonymization or, in exceptional circumstances, changes affecting search-engine indexing.
Complete removal is reserved for unusual cases, including journalism that is fundamentally false, legally prohibited or likely to cause severe and disproportionate harm that clearly outweighs the continuing public interest.
Significant alterations to archived journalism will be explained to readers.
Privacy and public interest
Journalism sometimes requires reporting information that individuals would prefer to keep private. We balance privacy against the public importance of the information.
Factors may include:
the person’s role in public life;
the seriousness of the issue;
whether public money, authority or safety is involved;
whether the information reveals wrongdoing or hypocrisy;
the person’s reasonable expectation of privacy;
and the likely consequences of publication.
Something being interesting to the public is not necessarily the same as being in the public interest.
We avoid publishing private details that do not materially contribute to the story. We take particular care with home addresses, medical information, family circumstances, financial hardship and personal characteristics unrelated to the issue being reported.
Children and vulnerable people
Children and vulnerable people may not fully understand the reach or permanence of online publication.
We take additional care when interviewing or identifying children, people experiencing trauma, people with cognitive or communication barriers, survivors of violence and people facing significant power imbalances.
Parental or guardian permission may be appropriate when interviewing a child, but it does not replace consideration of the child’s own wishes, maturity, safety and dignity.
The public interest in identifying a child must be strong enough to justify the possible harm.
Crime, courts and allegations
A person accused of an offence is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
We distinguish clearly between investigation, arrest, charge, trial, conviction, acquittal, withdrawal and dismissal. We do not report allegations as established facts.
The Boundary Sentinel complies with publication bans and other legal restrictions. We take care not to identify protected complainants, young people or others whose identities cannot lawfully be published.
The decision to name an accused person may depend on the seriousness of the allegation, the reliability and public nature of the information, the person’s role in the community, public-safety considerations and the possibility of disproportionate harm.
When we report charges or proceedings, we will make reasonable efforts to report a significant final outcome.
Serious allegations made outside court or another privileged public proceeding require careful verification and a meaningful opportunity for the person accused to respond.
Death, trauma and grief
We approach death, serious injury and trauma with accuracy and compassion.
We do not declare a cause of death without reliable confirmation. Information from witnesses, social media or community discussion will not be treated as official confirmation merely because it is widely repeated.
Reporters should identify themselves clearly when approaching grieving people and should respect a person’s decision not to speak.
Graphic or intimate details will be published only when they contribute meaningfully to public understanding.
The privacy and wishes of a family are important considerations, but they do not automatically override a compelling public interest.
Suicide and self-harm
Suicide may be reported when there is a legitimate public-interest reason, but coverage requires particular care.
We avoid sensational language, simplistic explanations, romanticization and unnecessary description of the method or location. We recognize that suicide is complex and should not be attributed to one event without reliable evidence.
Support and crisis information may be included when appropriate.
Photographs, video and audio
News photographs and video must not be manipulated in a way that changes their essential meaning or misleads readers.
Routine cropping and technical adjustments are permitted when they do not materially alter the scene. Removing or adding objects, combining separate events or staging an image as though it were candid is not acceptable unless the result is clearly labelled as an illustration.
Captions must accurately explain what an image shows, when it was taken and, when relevant, who supplied it.
File photographs will be identified when their date or context could otherwise be misunderstood.
Images supplied by police, governments, businesses, community organizations or members of the public will be credited accordingly.
Graphic images will be used only when their journalistic value outweighs the likely harm. Warnings may be provided where appropriate.
Artificial intelligence
On occasion, the Boundary Sentinel may use artificial-intelligence tools in a limited capacity for administrative and production tasks, such as transcribing interviews, organizing notes and reviewing large documents.
At a time when local journalism operates with increasingly limited resources, carefully chosen tools can streamline routine work and allow more time for reporting, verification and public-interest coverage.
Every published item begins with human editorial direction and ends with a human editor who is responsible for its accuracy, fairness, context and compliance with the Boundary Sentinel’s editorial standards.
AI-generated information is not treated as a source. Every fact, figure, quotation and attribution is checked against original documents, recordings or other reliable sources before publication.
Artificial intelligence is not used to invent quotations, interviews, sources, observations or events. Confidential source information and sensitive unpublished material are not entered into external AI systems where doing so could compromise privacy or confidentiality.
The Boundary Sentinel does not publish autonomous AI-generated journalism. Artificial intelligence does not replace human reporting, editorial judgment or accountability.
The Boundary Sentinel’s approach to artificial intelligence is informed by newsroom standards and ethical guidance published by The New York Times,The Associated Press, The Guardian and the Canadian Association of Journalists.
Diversity and community representation
The Boundary region includes communities with different histories, economies, cultures and relationships to public institutions.
We seek coverage that reflects the full region rather than concentrating only on its largest population centre. We aim to include people directly affected by public decisions, not only officials and institutional spokespeople.
We avoid stereotypes and unnecessarily emphasizing a person’s race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or other personal characteristic.
These details may be reported when they are relevant to understanding the story and handled with accuracy and respect.
No individual should be assumed to speak for an entire community.
Indigenous coverage
The Boundary Sentinel recognizes that it reports within the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples and that Indigenous governments, communities and citizens are not interchangeable.
We seek accuracy in names, titles, legal distinctions, histories and territorial references. We do not describe Indigenous governments or issues solely through the perspectives of non-Indigenous institutions.
When reporting on Indigenous rights, governance, culture, land or community matters, we make reasonable efforts to consult appropriate Indigenous sources and recognize that some cultural knowledge, ceremonies and locations may not be appropriate for unrestricted publication.
Political and civic coverage
Coverage of governments, elections and public institutions must remain independent of partisan and personal interests.
News reporting will not favour a candidate or party in exchange for access, advertising, friendship or political agreement.
Candidates and public officials are subject to the same standards of verification and fairness. Equal treatment does not always require identical amounts of coverage; editorial decisions may reflect newsworthiness, public significance and the availability of verified information.
Political advertising and submitted campaign material will be clearly identified.
Opinion and editorial content concerning elections or public policy will be labelled separately from news reporting.
Journalists covering an election or political issue should avoid public activity that would create a reasonable doubt about their ability to report independently.
Community relationships
Local journalists frequently know the people and organizations they cover. Familiarity with a community can improve reporting, but it can also create pressure to avoid difficult stories or favour familiar sources.
The Boundary Sentinel will not withhold legitimate journalism solely because the subject is a neighbour, advertiser, community leader or acquaintance.
At the same time, local reporting should not become needlessly adversarial. We will scrutinize public decisions while treating sources, subjects and readers with basic respect.
Criticism of our reporting will not affect whether a person or organization receives fair future coverage.
Complaints and accountability
Readers may raise concerns about accuracy, fairness, attribution, conflicts of interest, privacy or other aspects of our journalism through the Boundary Sentinel’s contact page.
A useful complaint should identify:
the article or material involved;
the specific passage or decision being challenged;
the nature of the concern;
and any evidence that may help us assess it.
Complaints will be reviewed by the editor. We may seek additional information from the complainant, reporter or other people involved.
A disagreement with the subject, tone or conclusion of a story is not by itself evidence of an ethical breach. When a complaint identifies a factual error or a failure to meet these standards, we will take appropriate corrective action.
Threatening, abusive, discriminatory or persistently bad-faith communications may not receive a response.
Review of these standards
These standards are intended to guide responsible decisions rather than provide automatic answers to every situation.
The Boundary Sentinel will review this policy as journalistic practices, technology, law and the needs of the communities it serves evolve.
Adopted: August 2026
Last reviewed: August 2026