Purpose
1.1. This policy outlines The Sunrise State's editorial position and reporting guidelines.
1.2. The Press Council of India takes precedence over all other guidelines, ensuring that our reporting adheres to the highest standards of accuracy, fairness, and integrity in journalism.
2. Our editorial position
2.1. At The Sunrise State, we believe that “unbiased” reporting is a bit of a flawed concept. We don’t claim to be completely objective in our journalism, but we do strive to be nonpartisan, accurate, fair, informative, entertaining and unique.
2.2. We aim to share stories that reflect the diverse voices of our community and help you understand the important issues in Amaravati, India and the world, in that order. Our goal is to create a space where everyone can engage with the news and feel connected to the state and country.
3. General reporting guidelines
3.1. Should a reporter become aware of any errors, questions of accuracy, or confusion, they should immediately issue an appropriate correction or clarification if needed.
3.2. Any significant changes to a story post-publication will be accompanied by a correction note.
3.3. When a story is based primarily on the opinions and commentary of the writer, it will be labelled as opinion or voices.
3.4. Coverage decisions and other editorial choices are made exclusively by the reporters of The Sunrise State. Business-side colleagues do not decide what we cover, or how.
3.5. Reporters should always disclose their job and purpose when conducting interviews. Undercover reporting requires the approval of another member of the editorial team, and should only be undertaken if there is a compelling public interest, and the sought-after information cannot be obtained by other means.
3.6. No public interest story drafts may be sent to any parties outside of The Sunrise State prior to publication.
4. Attribution
4.1. All story language must be original, or else properly attributed in quotation marks or other form.
4.2. All images and embedded multimedia must be properly credited.
4.3. Any reporting attributable to another source, rather than our reporting, must be properly credited and, where possible, linked to.
5. Seeking comment
5.1. Reporters should always seek comment from the subject of a story, and anyone at all who is named in a negative light, even if they are not a central character.
5.2. When a piece contains significant critical allegations, the subject(s) of those allegations should be provided with a right of reply letter detailing what the reporter intends to say, and inviting them to submit any comments, corrections, or clarifications before publication.
5.3. Subjects should be given a reasonable amount of time to respond to requests for comment, balancing the time sensitivity of the topic with how long the reporter spent on the story and the volume of details in the request.
6. Sourcing
6.1. Reporters should work to ensure their story sources are diverse, and reflect the range of people most significantly affected by the issue in question.
6.2. The Sunrise State does not pay sources for stories, or to participate in the reporting process.
6.3. We consider granting anonymity to sources when we believe the information they are providing is newsworthy, credible, and cannot be reported another way. As much as possible, we aim to verify information from anonymous sources through documents, third parties, and other reporting.
6.4. Granting anonymity to a source comes with significant moral responsibility. Reporters should have a clear, thorough conversation about the circumstances under which they can and cannot protect a source’s anonymity. This is especially true in cases when a person has communicated with a reporter through a method they don’t control, such as a work email.
6.5. Reporters should always try to meet in person or over an encrypted communication method like Signal, rather than converse over email or social media DMs, especially if there are any concerns about a source’s anonymity or safety.
7. Reporting on sensitive subjects
7.1. Reporters should always keep power dynamics in mind when deciding what information to make public.
7.2. When reporting on children, unhoused people, undocumented people, and other vulnerable subjects, reporters should weigh the value to the public interest against the potential consequences of naming subjects or detailing their activities.
7.3. When appropriate, reporters should get parental permission before interviewing children.
7.4. When covering a criminal case or criminal charges, reporters should always try to update the story with the final outcome, to ensure a story remains accurate over time.
7.5. Reporters should not name the victims of sexual assault.
7.6. In keeping with widely-held standards designed to reduce harm, we do not detail the methods of suicide or self-harm unless there is very clear public interest.
7.7. The Sunrise State will not use mugshots to illustrate crime stories.
8. Conflicts of interest
8.1. We avoid situations that create a conflict of interest – or appearance of conflict of interest – that could affect our editorial integrity.
8.2. Reporters should recuse themselves from any story involving their own financial interests, or any stories that involve family members, romantic partners, or people with whom they have a past or present business relationship.
8.4. In some cases, prominent disclosure of a personal or business relationship and explanation of why it will not affect editorial integrity is sufficient.
9. Press passes and gifts
9.1. Reporters may accept press passes to events, but never with an agreement that they will cover the event.
9.2. Reporters may not go on trips paid for by third parties.
9.3. Reporters may not accept gifts over INR500. If returning such gifts to the sender would be rude or otherwise problematic, they should be donated to an appropriate organisation.
This policy was edited by Anudeep Chirumalla (Editor).
Last updated: 06/11/2025