Editorial Standards & Fact Verification

This page is the working rulebook of the Komodo Times newsroom. It explains how we choose stories, check facts, attribute sources, separate news from opinion, and treat the people we report on. It binds every reporter, editor, and contributor, and readers may use it to hold us to account.

Core values

Accuracy before speed. A story whose facts are not yet clear is held, not published with guesswork.
Traceable. Readers are entitled to know where a claim comes from. Sources are named and, where public, linked.
Fair. Anyone harmed by an allegation is given the chance to answer before publication.
Independent. No story is bought, held, or withdrawn to suit an advertiser, a source, or an owner.
Honest with readers. What we do not yet know is written as not yet known.

Sources and verification

Every factual claim must have a source that can be pointed to. A story resting on a single interested party is not published as fact.
Names, titles, figures, dates, places, and quotes are checked one by one against the original source, not against another outlet's report of it.
Official documents, institutional data, and recordings take precedence over unverifiable verbal accounts.
Screenshots, social media posts, and forwarded messages are not used until their authenticity, timing, and origin have been checked.
An urgent story of clear public interest may run before verification is complete, provided the source is identified, any party yet to respond is named, and the state of verification is stated in the story. Developments are carried in that same story.

Anonymous sources

Naming sources is the rule. Confidentiality is granted only where the information matters to the public interest, cannot be obtained another way, and the source faces a real risk if identified. An editor decides, not the reporter alone. The story still explains the source's standing and why the identity is withheld. The right to refuse disclosure is respected and defended by the newsroom, as set out in Protection of Journalists.

Attribution and quotation

Direct quotes are reproduced exactly as spoken or written. Where a quote must be trimmed, the trimming must not change its meaning.
Material translated from another language is rendered as indirect speech, or marked clearly as a translation.
Stories drawn from another outlet name and link that outlet, and are written in our own words. Copying another outlet's text wholesale is forbidden.
Press releases are never published as they stand. Their contents are verified and their origin stated.

News, analysis, and opinion

News carries checked facts; analysis carries explanation grounded in data; opinion carries the author's view. All three are clearly labelled and never mixed in one piece. Opinion is the responsibility of its author and does not represent the newsroom's position. Outside columns state the author's position and any relevant interest.

Headlines and summaries

A headline must be supported by the story. We do not write headlines that promise more than the text proves.
Headlines are not judgemental, do not present allegations as fact, and observe the presumption of innocence.
Summaries state the substance of the story rather than withholding it to harvest clicks.

Photographs, video, and credits

Images must relate to the event reported. File images are labelled as file images.
Credits are mandatory: the photographer or institution that owns the image, and the licence where it comes from a third party.
Image editing is limited to cropping, exposure, and sharpening that do not alter content. Adding or removing elements from a news image is forbidden.
Images, video, and audio generated by artificial intelligence are never used to depict real events, people, or places. See our Artificial Intelligence Policy.
Distressing or graphic images are used only where they are necessary to understand the event, and are preceded by a warning.

Legal cases, children, and vulnerable people

The presumption of innocence applies until a court decision is final and binding. A person's legal status is stated precisely: reported, suspect, defendant, or convicted.
The identity of a child in contact with the law — as offender, victim, or witness — is not published.
The identity of a victim of a sexual offence is not published, including details that would allow identification.
Reporting does not demean anyone on grounds of ethnicity, race, religion, sex, orientation, language, disability, or economic circumstance.
Survivors of disaster and trauma are interviewed with consent, without pressure, and without exploiting their suffering.

Embargoes and press releases

Embargoes agreed in advance are honoured. A unilateral embargo arriving with the material itself is not binding. Invitations and material from outside parties give the sender no right to determine what we publish.

Conflicts of interest and independence

Reporters do not cover parties connected to their personal, family, or financial interests. Conflicts are declared to the Responsible Editor before an assignment.
Reporters may not accept money, goods, hospitality, or other benefits from the subjects of their reporting.
Commercial work such as advertorial and sponsored content is not produced as news and never carries a news byline.
Our independence statement is in Ownership, Funding & Independence.

Bylines and accountability

The name on an article is the reporter accountable for it. Komodo Times does not use invented reporter names, and a tool, including artificial intelligence, is never credited as an author.

News desk copy. Daily news compiled by the news desk carries the name of the newsroom reporter who holds the desk for that section. Where a desk is held by more than one reporter, the byline rotates among them. The reporter in the byline is accountable for that story: reading, editing, updating, and correcting it after publication.
Individual work. Field reports and columns produced by an individual writer carry that writer's own name.
No accountable reporter. Copy with no individually accountable reporter, such as a newsroom announcement, carries the byline Komodo Times Newsroom.
Checkable. Every name that can appear in a byline is listed on our Masthead page, and each byline links to that author's profile.

How desk copy is produced, including AI assistance and editing after publication, is set out in our Artificial Intelligence Policy. The Responsible Editor, Mursyid Sonsang, holds final responsibility for everything we report, and institutionally PT. Kabar Delapan Belas is responsible for everything published at komodotimes.com.

Publication times and updates

The date and time shown are the actual time of publication in WITA (UTC+8). We do not backdate or forward-date stories to make them look newer. Substantive changes are marked "Updated" with the time.

Corrections and complaints

Errors are corrected openly under our Corrections, Right of Reply & Right of Correction Policy. Complaints may be sent to redaksi@komodotimes.com or +6281334873432, and then to the Indonesian Press Council at dewanpers.or.id.

This page is reviewed regularly by the Komodo Times newsroom. Responsible Editor: Mursyid Sonsang.