Editorial Policy

Indian Opinion publishes one brief per story, written from the reporting of every outlet that covered it. This page sets out the rules that decide what gets published, how it is written, and what we will not do.

The corroboration rule

A story is published only when at least two distinct outlets have reported it. One outlet is not enough. Where two or more independent outlets carry the same event, their reports are grouped into a single cluster and one brief is written from all of them, rather than a separate near duplicate article for each feed item.

There is one deliberate exception. Service journalism publishes on a single sourced report, because with these stories the value is the fact itself rather than anyone’s interpretation of it. That covers exam notifications, admit cards, answer keys and results; government vacancies and recruitment; admissions and scheme deadlines; fuel, gold and fare changes; launches with Indian prices; transport and civic disruption; and local incidents with public safety relevance. A recruitment notification carried by one outlet is still the notification.

What happens to a single source story

A single source story that is not service journalism is not rejected. It is held open and stays joinable. If a second outlet reports the same event, the cluster is rebuilt and the story publishes then, with both outlets credited. Stories that attract no corroboration within about three days expire without ever being published. Waiting costs us nothing. Publishing a claim that no second newsroom has stood behind costs a reader something real.

Relevance scoring

Every cluster is scored from 0 to 10 for how materially it concerns India and Indians, judged on substance rather than on whether the word India appears or on the nationality of the outlet reporting it. Union government policy, the national economy, security, elections, major disasters and landmark court rulings sit at the top of the scale. Service journalism counts as first class relevance, not filler. Anything scoring below 6 is not published, and daily output is capped well below what the pipeline could produce, so the score is a real constraint rather than a formality.

What a brief is, and what analysis is

• The Story in Brief is a factual retelling of what the sources reported, assembled from the full text of every report in the cluster. It carries no facts that are not in those reports.
• Indian Opinion Analysis is a short analytical read produced by comparing how each outlet framed the same story. It identifies what a framing overstates or leaves out, takes no party’s side, lands on the conclusion the full set of reporting supports, and ends with something concrete to watch. It is the one part of an article that is ours rather than derived.
• Sources lists the original reports, credited by outlet and linked, at the foot of every article.

How outlet framings are attributed

Outlets frequently disagree, and where they do the brief says so rather than silently picking a winner. A claim made by one outlet and not the others is attributed to that outlet by name. Where outlets differ on a number, a sequence of events or an assignment of blame, the brief reports the difference instead of averaging it away. Every article states how many outlets it was built from, so you can weigh a story carried by eight against one carried by two.

Language editions

Indian Opinion published machine translated editions in eight Indian languages until September 2026, when they were discontinued. The site is English only. The former edition addresses return 410 Gone rather than redirecting you somewhere you did not ask for.

What we do not do

We do not carry out original reporting. We do not interview sources, attend events, or verify claims independently. Every fact here originates with the outlet credited at the foot of the article. We do not accept payment for coverage, placement or tone, as set out in Ownership and Funding. When we get something wrong, see the Corrections Policy. How the automation works, and who is accountable for it, is set out in the AI Use Policy and the Masthead.