Editorial Standards

These are the rules Brant.One’s newsroom follows to make sure what you read is accurate, fair, and independent.

Last updated October 29, 2026

Mission

Brant.One reports news that matters to New Mexicans: accurately, independently, and in plain language. Every story we publish should help a reader understand what happened, why it matters to them, and what comes next.

These standards apply to everyone who writes, edits, or publishes for Brant.One, including freelancers and contributors. When a situation isn’t covered here, the guiding question is: would a fair-minded reader trust us more or less after seeing how we handled it?

Ownership and independence

Brant.One is owned and published by NMEAF (nmeaf.org). We disclose that ownership on our About page and masthead so readers always know who stands behind our journalism.

• Editorial decisions are made by Brant.One’s editors alone. Owners, advertisers, sponsors, and donors do not review, approve, or kill stories before publication.
• When we cover NMEAF, its officers, or any organization with a financial tie to Brant.One, we say so in the story.
• Brant.One does not endorse political candidates or parties, and staff do not accept payment from people or groups we cover.

Accuracy and verification

We publish only what we have verified. Speed never outranks accuracy.

• Confirm every factual claim with a primary source (a document, a record, a recording, or a person with direct knowledge) before publishing.
• Verify names, titles, ages, places, dates, and numbers against an authoritative source. Recompute any figure we derive ourselves.
• Breaking news may be published as facts are confirmed, but each update says what is known, what is not, and when it was last updated.
• Claims from social media, press releases, or other outlets are attributed and, where possible, independently confirmed. A viral post is not a source until we confirm who made it and that it is authentic.
• Photos, video, and screenshots are checked for authenticity and context before use.
• A second person reads every story before publication. Stories involving legal risk, allegations of wrongdoing, or anonymous sources are reviewed by the editor.

Sourcing and attribution

Readers should be able to tell where every fact came from.

• Name sources whenever possible, with enough description (title, role, relationship to the story) for readers to judge their credibility.
• Link to original documents, data, court filings, and other reporting we rely on.
• Credit other outlets by name in the story text whenever we use their reporting, and link to their work. A hyperlink on a word like “said” or “reported” is not credit on its own.
• Keep how a quote was obtained. If a person spoke to another outlet, we say so (“told KOB 4,” “said in an interview with Source NM”). We never turn another outlet’s interview into a plain “said,” and never relabel it “said in a statement.”
• Quotes are exact. We may trim for length, but never in a way that changes meaning, and we never combine separate statements into one quote.

Anonymous sources are a last resort. We grant anonymity only when:

1. The information is newsworthy and cannot be obtained on the record.
2. The source has direct knowledge and faces real risk (job loss, retaliation, harm) if named.
3. The editor knows the source’s identity and approves.

The story explains why the source was not named. Anonymous sources may not be used for personal attacks or opinion.

Original reporting

Original reporting by Brant.One staff is the core of what we publish.

• Our original reporting runs in Brant’s Exclusive in three forms: Exclusive Reports (stories we break), Expanded Coverage (our own reporting that takes a story further with new interviews, documents or data), and News Tips (stories that start from a reader’s tip and that we verify ourselves). Each carries the name of the reporter who did the work.
• Brant’s Exclusive and Daily Reports are kept separate. Aggregated summaries are never filed, labeled or promoted as Brant’s Exclusive.
• We do not republish other outlets’ stories in full. When we use another outlet’s reporting, we write a short, credited summary under the rules in Proper aggregation, below.
• We do not rewrite another outlet’s reporting and present it as our own. When our story builds on someone else’s reporting, we credit and link it.
• Press releases are never passed off as our own reporting. When a Daily Report is written from a government agency’s own release, the story names the agency as the source in the text and links the release. Anything we add beyond the release, we report and verify ourselves.

Proper aggregation (Daily Reports)

Daily Reports keep readers up to date on New Mexico news reported by other outlets. Each one is a short summary that points readers to the outlet that did the reporting. Daily Reports are not original Brant.One reporting, and we never present them that way.

What every Daily Report has

• A short summary in our own words. The key facts, not the whole story. Readers who want the full reporting go to the original.
• The outlet named in the text, early in the story (for example, “Source NM reported Tuesday that…”), with a link to the original.
• An About This Story box at the end, naming the original outlet and headline, with a button to read the full story.
• Quotes attributed to how they were gathered, exactly as the original outlet reported them.
• The Brant.One Newsroom byline and the Daily Reports category.

What a Daily Report never does

• Condense and reorder another outlet’s story so it reads as ours.
• Copy the original’s sentences or phrasing.
• Credit the outlet only through a hyperlink.
• Run the full text of another outlet’s story, even when its license allows republishing.
• Appear in Brant’s Exclusive or carry a staff reporter’s byline as if it were their reporting.
• Get drafted or rewritten by AI.

How we write one

1. Read the full original story before writing anything.
2. Write the summary yourself, from your own understanding, without working from the original’s sentence order.
3. Name the outlet in the text and link it. If a story was co-published, credit the main publisher in the About This Story box and button, and link the co-publisher in the story text.
4. Carry quotes and figures over exactly, and say who gathered them.
5. Add our own context only where it helps: an optional “Why It Matters” or “What’s Next” section, written and sourced by us.
6. Add the About This Story box.
7. Second read before publishing. An editor compares the summary with the original for copied phrasing, quote attribution and figures.
8. Publish under Brant.One Newsroom, in Daily Reports.

Government releases. When a Daily Report comes from a state agency’s own news release, we credit the agency directly in the text and link the release. These posts don’t use the About This Story box.

Licensed outlets. Some outlets, such as Source NM and Searchlight New Mexico, allow republishing under their own terms. We still don’t republish; we summarize and credit them like any other outlet.

Content types and labels

Every piece carries a label so readers know what kind of content they are reading before they start.

Label	What it is	Who writes it	Rules
News	Factual reporting on events and issues	Staff reporters	No personal opinion; all sides with a stake are sought
Brant’s Exclusive	Original reporting first published by Brant.One: Exclusive Reports, Expanded Coverage and News Tips	Named staff reporters	Same rules as News
Daily Report	A short, credited summary of another outlet’s reporting or an agency release	Brant.One Newsroom staff, without AI drafting	Outlet named in text and linked; About This Story box; never filed as Brant’s Exclusive (see Proper aggregation)
Analysis	Explains why something matters, grounded in reported facts	Staff with subject expertise	Interpretation allowed; must be labeled and sourced
Opinion	An argument for a point of view	Named staff or guest writers	Labeled “Opinion”; author bio and any conflicts disclosed; facts still checked
Sponsored	Content paid for by an advertiser	Advertiser or a separate team, never newsroom reporters	Labeled “Sponsored” or “Paid content” above the headline; visually distinct from news

Advertising and editorial separation

Advertising pays for our journalism; it never shapes it.

• Advertisers and sponsors have no say in what we cover, how we cover it, or when it runs. Buying an ad does not buy coverage, and pulling an ad does not stop a story.
• Advertising inquiries go to [email protected]. Reporters do not sell ads or negotiate sponsorships.
• Ads are placed in designated slots at the template level and are always visually distinct from editorial content. Ads are never styled to look like headlines or articles.
• Ads are not placed inside or next to navigation in ways that invite accidental clicks.
• When we report on a business that advertises with us, the story discloses the relationship.
• Affiliate links, if ever used, are disclosed in the story where they appear.

Use of AI tools

People report and write Brant.One’s journalism. Our writers may use AI tools for research and routine tasks, but never to write a story, in whole or in part. A human is accountable for everything we publish.

Where we use AI

• Research groundwork: suggesting angles, background reading, interview questions, and possible sources for a reporter to pursue.
• Article checks: flagging possible errors, unclear passages, or missing attribution for an editor to review.
• Routine tasks: transcribing recorded interviews, checking spelling and grammar, and formatting. The reporter reviews the result and stays responsible for it.
• Key Summaries: short bullet summaries shown with our original reporting in Brant’s Exclusive. Each is generated from the published story and reviewed by an editor. Daily Reports don’t carry them.
• Charts and visuals built from data we have verified.

Where we don’t

• AI does not write news stories, quotes, or bylined articles.
• AI does not write, draft or rewrite Daily Reports. Every summary of another outlet’s reporting is written by a member of our staff.
• AI is never treated as a source. Any fact an AI tool surfaces is verified against a primary source before it is published.
• We do not create AI-generated images of real people or events, and we never present a synthetic image as a photograph.
• When we can’t yet secure a real photo for a story, we may use an AI-generated image from a licensed stock library, such as Adobe Stock. It never depicts a real person or a specific real event, it is labeled “AI-generated illustration” with its stock credit, and we replace it once we have a real image.
• Confidential source information and unpublished material are not entered into AI tools that retain data.

When AI meaningfully contributes to published content (for example, a summary or a data visual), we say so on the piece.

Bylines and masthead

Readers should know who wrote a story and who is responsible for it.

• Every piece of original reporting carries the real name of the person who reported it. Stories with significant contributions from others list them at the end (“Additional reporting by…”).
• Each author has a profile page with a short bio, their beat, and a way to contact them.
• Daily Reports and short daily items (weather, what’s happening) carry the Brant.One Newsroom byline. Reworked archive posts from the October 2026 review also moved to that byline.
• The masthead lists the publisher, editor, and staff by name and role, and is linked from every page footer.

Corrections and updates

When we get something wrong, we fix it quickly and say so openly. We never quietly change a fact.

Type	When it applies	What we do
Correction	A factual error (a name, number, date, quote, or claim)	Fix the text and add a dated note at the bottom: “Correction, [date]: An earlier version of this story [stated X]. It is [Y].”
Clarification	Accurate but misleading or incomplete wording	Revise and add a dated “Clarification” note explaining what changed
Update	New information on a developing story	Add the new facts and a dated “Updated” line at the top
Editor’s note	A serious error, an ethics lapse, or a story that should not have run as published	Explain prominently at the top what was wrong and what we did about it

• Readers can report an error at [email protected]. An editor reviews every report within one business day.
• Corrections also go to every channel where the original ran, including the news apps that carry our stories and our social media posts, where those platforms allow it.
• We do not unpublish stories except for legal reasons, a serious safety risk to a person, or a story that fails our sourcing and attribution standards. In that last case the editor may take the story down while it is reworked into a properly credited version. Removals are decided by the editor and noted on the page.
• Typos and grammar fixes that don’t change meaning can be made without a note.
• We keep a public corrections page listing all corrections and clarifications.

Conflicts of interest

Staff avoid conflicts, and the appearance of them, that could make readers doubt our fairness.

• Don’t cover family members, close friends, business partners, or organizations you belong to or hold a financial interest in. Tell the editor, and someone else takes the story.
• Don’t accept gifts, free travel, or payment from people or organizations you cover. Items worth more than a token amount are returned or declined.
• Review copies and press credentials are acceptable when used for coverage and disclosed where relevant.
• Don’t hold office in, campaign for, or donate to political candidates or causes you cover.
• Outside work (freelancing, consulting, speaking) is disclosed to the editor in advance.
• Never promise a source favorable coverage or let a source approve a story before publication. Sources may be asked to confirm facts and quotes.

Fairness, privacy and minimizing harm

We report the truth without causing harm that the story doesn’t require.

• Anyone facing a serious allegation in our reporting gets a real chance to respond before publication. We say in the story when someone declined or did not reply, and how long we waited.
• People charged with crimes are described as accused until convicted. When charges are dropped or a person is acquitted, we report that too.
• We do not name minors accused of crimes, victims of sexual assault, or people at risk from being identified, unless there is a compelling public interest and the editor approves.
• We avoid graphic images and details unless they are essential to understanding the story, and we warn readers when they appear.
• Suicide is reported using established safe-messaging guidelines, without describing methods, and with crisis resources included.
• Race, religion, immigration status, gender identity, and similar traits are mentioned only when relevant to the story.
• Private individuals receive more privacy than public officials. A person’s grief or trauma is not news on its own.

Headlines, images and social media

Headlines state what the story actually says. No clickbait, no questions the story can’t answer, no exaggeration, and no quote marks around words nobody said.

Images

• Every photo carries a caption and a credit. We use our own photos, licensed images, or images used with written permission.
• Photos are not altered beyond standard adjustments (crop, exposure, color). Illustrations and composites are labeled as such.
• Stock or file photos used to illustrate a story are labeled “File photo” or “Illustration.” AI-generated stock images are labeled “AI-generated illustration” (see Use of AI tools).

Embeds: Social posts embedded in stories are from verified or confirmed accounts and are included for their news value, not to amplify unverified claims.

Social media

• Posts on Brant.One accounts (Facebook, X, Threads, Mastodon) follow the same accuracy and fairness rules as our stories. Post text must match the story it links to.
• Errors in a post are corrected in a follow-up post or by editing, with a note.
• Staff personal accounts should not undermine Brant.One’s impartiality on topics they cover.

Contact and review

We want to hear from readers, especially when we fall short.

The editor reviews these standards at least once a year and whenever our practices change. The page shows the date it was last updated. Questions about how a specific story was handled are answered by the editor.