Adopted: 2019  |  Last reviewed: June 2025

The Facts Center for Journalism Services (FCJS) exists to produce accurate, independent, and ethically grounded journalism about Sudan. These standards govern every piece of content we publish under the Sudan Facts and Atar Network brands. They are not aspirational — they are operational requirements.

1. Editorial Independence

FCJS accepts no direction, editorial influence, or content approval rights from any government, political party, armed actor, donor, advertiser, or external funder. Funding sources are disclosed publicly on our About page. No donor relationship entitles any party to editorial access or approval. Any attempt to exert editorial influence is documented and refused. Our editors and journalists may not hold dual roles that create conflicts with this independence.

2. Verification Standards

We do not publish claims we cannot verify. Our minimum verification standard is two independent sources for any material factual claim in a news or investigative report. Where a claim rests on a single source, that limitation is disclosed to readers. Documentary evidence is preferred over testimony alone. We cross-check official statements against independent reporting, field accounts, and primary documents. We do not republish other outlets’ unverified claims without independent corroboration.

3. Source Protection

Protecting sources is not a courtesy — in our operating environment, it is a matter of physical safety. We apply the following standard:

  • The identity of confidential sources is known only to the journalist and, where operationally necessary, one senior editor. It is never stored in unsecured systems.
  • We communicate with sources inside conflict zones using end-to-end encrypted channels. We do not conduct sensitive communications via unencrypted email or social media DMs.
  • We will not identify a source to any government authority, intelligence service, armed group, or third party, regardless of legal pressure or jurisdiction.
  • We conduct a source security assessment before publication to evaluate whether any detail in a published story could enable identification of a confidential source.
  • Sources may withdraw consent before publication. We honour such requests.

4. Conflict-Zone Reporting Ethics

Our work covers an active armed conflict. We apply heightened standards accordingly:

  • We do not publish information that could endanger the safety of civilians, aid workers, journalists, or sources inside Sudan.
  • We do not publish the location, movement, or identity of individuals in ways that could expose them to armed actors.
  • We apply a harm-assessment review to all field reports before publication.
  • We do not embed with armed factions in ways that create editorial obligations or access dependencies.
  • We acknowledge the limitations of remote reporting and are transparent with readers about what we could and could not independently verify.

5. Sourcing Policy — Named and Anonymous Sources

Named sources are always preferred. Where individuals are willing and able to speak on the record, we publish their names and titles.

Anonymous sources are used only when: (a) the source faces credible risk of retaliation or harm; (b) the information is material and cannot be obtained on the record; and (c) the information is corroborated by at least one additional source or document. When anonymous sourcing is used, we describe the source’s basis for knowledge without revealing identifying details.

We do not grant anonymity to sources making personal attacks on private individuals.

6. Right of Reply

Any individual, organisation, or institution that is the subject of significant adverse reporting is offered a meaningful opportunity to respond before publication. Where a subject declines to respond or cannot be reached, we state this in the published piece.

7. Language Standards — Arabic and English

Sudan Facts publishes in both Arabic and English. Both language versions are considered primary — neither is a translation of the other without explicit labelling. Arabic-language content follows the same editorial standards as English-language content. Arabic content is reviewed by a native speaker with subject-matter competence before publication. We do not use automated machine translation as a substitute for human editorial review.

8. Conflicts of Interest

FCJS journalists and editors must disclose to their editor any personal, financial, or professional relationship that could create a conflict of interest with an assignment. Assignments where a conflict is identified are either reassigned or the conflict is disclosed to readers.

9. Sponsored Content and Advertising

FCJS carries no advertising and publishes no sponsored, branded, or promoted content. All content published on this site is editorial content produced under these standards.

10. Corrections

When we make errors, we correct them promptly, transparently, and without attempting to minimise what went wrong. See our Corrections Policy for full details.

11. Accountability

Questions or concerns about our editorial standards may be directed to atar@sudanfacts.org. We take all editorial complaints seriously and respond to all substantive complaints within five working days.