These guidelines describe how Optimist India sources, writes, edits and corrects its journalism. They apply to every writer and editor, on every beat, without exception.
Source every claim. Factual claims are supported by a primary source — an official record, dataset, peer-reviewed study, on-the-record interview or first-hand observation — linked inline wherever possible. We do not publish claims we cannot stand behind.
Positive, not promotional. Optimist India reports good news, but it is not a public-relations channel. We verify before we celebrate, we note what is unproven, and we decline stories that cannot survive scrutiny.
Real authors. Every article carries a real human byline with a public profile on our masthead. We do not publish under fake names or undisclosed AI authorship.
Independence. No advertiser, sponsor, subject or funder reviews our journalism before publication or directs our coverage. Sponsored material is labelled under our sponsored-content policy.
Corrections in public. When we get something wrong, we fix it openly on our corrections page and preserve the original for the record.
Questions about these guidelines can be sent to our editorial desk.