Editorial Standards

PUNT NEWS treats accuracy, attribution, clarity and a durable historical record as publication requirements.

Editorial wording policy updated October 18, 2026.

Rule #1: analysis belongs inside the article

PUNT NEWS analysis is embedded in the reporting rather than announced as newsroom commentary. Articles do not address readers as a category or explain what PUNT NEWS will think, watch, distinguish or update when the same point can be stated directly. Analysis should emerge from evidence, chronology, institutions, incentives, constraints, geography, comparison and consequence. The standard is compact, skeptical and precise, in an Economist-like register.

The same analytical and evidentiary standard applies to Puntland, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea, Yemen and every other jurisdiction or subject. Editorial priority does not change the standard of proof. Where disagreement materially changes the story, the article briefly identifies the competing accounts at the relevant point. Articles use brief attribution where it materially affects meaning; verification discussion stays in editorial review. Reported narratives should end on the substantive issue, consequence, unresolved mechanism or historical pattern rather than on newsroom process.

Narrative arc and paragraph flow

Every sentence must develop the preceding sentence, and every paragraph must advance a coherent account and give the next paragraph a reason to follow. This rule applies automatically to substantive news, analysis, Op-Ed, opinion, commentary, editorials, explainers, features, profiles, reviews and historical essays in English and Somali. The article's genre and an author's distinctive voice remain intact.

Articles follow connected developments through actors, circumstances, actions, responses and consequences. Facts, dates, statistics and citations enter where they advance that account. Chronology alone does not create a story, and transitions cannot repair an absent relationship. Each paragraph develops one dominant thread; its sentences explain, deepen, qualify, supply evidence, show responses or carry the same process forward. Analytical prose may develop an explanation or argument without forcing events into a dramatic formula.

Editing proceeds from the overall narrative arc to sections, paragraphs, sentences and words. Substantive claims, distinctions, citations and references are preserved unless changes are authorized. Writers do not invent events, motives, scenes, quotations or causal links to manufacture flow. Necessary tables, transcripts and live-update records retain their functional forms. The complete Narrative Arc and Paragraph Flow Prompt contains the 16 core rules and revision tests.

Writing and length

Substantive articles are 700 to 2,100 words, with a newsroom target average of approximately 1,200 words. Length must come from reporting, chronology, relevant history, institutional context, consequences and evidence rather than padding. Articles should state their development, question or proposition clearly, identify concrete actors, control chronology and distinguish facts from claims and analysis. Prose follows an Economist-style register with precise verbs, varied rhythm and connected paragraphs. Avoid em dashes, constructions pairing a negated proposition with “but,” catalogue prose and repetitive signposting.

Verification

Material facts should be verified before publication. Primary and authoritative sources are preferred where available. Reports identify uncertainty and do not convert an allegation or official assertion into an independent finding.

Minor discrepancies are treated proportionately. Qualifications that materially affect a claim and uncertainty that shaped events remain briefly visible where needed. Source verification and narrative editing are separate duties.

Direct narration and concise attribution

Every article minimizes disclosure-style wording, and the same restraint applies across the site. Articles state events, actions and consequences directly. They avoid meta talk about evidence, verification procedures and what the newsroom can or cannot report.

Essential attribution stays beside the claim: estimates remain estimates and allegations remain attributed. Source links, photograph credits, reuse terms and public corrections remain available. Internal verification notes stay separate from finished articles.

Fairness and completeness

Fair reporting requires the inclusion of material facts that could change a reader's understanding of the story. Relevant contrary evidence should not be omitted for narrative convenience. Subjects of significant criticism, allegation or disputed factual claims should be given a meaningful opportunity to respond when practicable, and their responses should be represented accurately and in context.

Sources and attribution

PUNT NEWS identifies the source of material information as clearly as circumstances permit. Facts learned from government statements, court or regulatory records, companies, advocacy organizations, witnesses, other news organizations, social media or anonymous sources should be attributed according to their origin. Reporting from another publication must be credited. Readers should be able to distinguish what PUNT NEWS independently established from what another source reported or claimed.

Corrections and updates

Factual errors should be corrected promptly and transparently. Material corrections and substantive updates remain associated with the original Story ID and advance the article's revision history. The durable record should make clear what changed when the change materially affects the meaning of the report.

Daily homepage lead

Each PUNT NEWS publication day designates one Daily Lead for the large center position on both language homepages. The lead must be a story published or materially updated that day and is selected for verified significance, consequence, public importance and evidentiary strength rather than chronology alone. If no breaking or current-news item clears the publication threshold, a same-day verified analysis or explainer may lead. PUNT NEWS does not manufacture a weak or unverified story solely to refresh the center.

The Daily Lead is recorded in data/homepage.json and is part of the publication release gate. Replacing the lead changes prominence only. The displaced story retains its original Story ID, canonical URL and archive position permanently. Two image-led Major Stories may sit beneath the lead without displacing it. Each Major Story remains a full independent article with its own permanent Story ID and URL.

Homepage composition and rotation

The homepage carries 17 unique featured editorial items. In addition, the Latest rail is an eight-item chronological navigation list that may repeat stories appearing elsewhere on the homepage. The purpose is to preserve editorial hierarchy while giving readers a deeper path into recent reporting.

PUNT Analysis & Context rotates among Current Analysis, Explainer / Context and From the PUNT Archive. It is reviewed whenever the Daily Lead changes and at least once each publication day. A story should not remain in the same context position for more than two consecutive daily editions unless an editor deliberately keeps it there because it remains the strongest context.

Readers must be able to reach older reporting directly. Archive access appears in the main navigation, and the homepage carries a five-date Previous Editions strip. Section pages and chronological archives preserve access after stories leave the homepage.

Horn of Africa coverage mandate

The Horn of Africa section treats the region as an interconnected political, economic and security system. Standing coverage includes Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya when regionally relevant, Somalia, Somaliland, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan and Egypt, together with the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandab and Nile Basin. It also covers Gulf states–Horn of Africa relations and Egypt–Horn relations when those relationships have substantive consequences for regional politics, security, trade, ports, infrastructure, investment, migration, food security, diplomacy or maritime affairs.

Relevant Gulf actors include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. External actors belong in the Horn of Africa section when the regional connection is substantive rather than incidental.

Parallel news hierarchy and Opinion

Horn of Africa, World and Puntland are presented at equal visual rank in a single horizontal three-column news band on desktop. None of the three is positioned as a vertically superior or subordinate geography. Each column carries its own section link and two selected items. On narrow screens the columns may stack for legibility without changing their editorial status.

Opinion is presented separately in a full-width section immediately below the three-column news band. Signed opinion pieces remain visually distinct from newsroom reporting and are displayed side by side on desktop.

Current edition and archive

The current edition carries at least 10 substantive stories. When new reporting supersedes an older article, the older article remains permanently available at its original Story ID and URL, with a forward link to the newer coverage where appropriate. Corrections remain under the same Story ID.

Somali-government terminology

PUNT NEWS uses “the Mogadishu government” for Somalia’s current federal executive. “The weak federal entity in Mogadishu” and “the nominal government in Mogadishu” are editorial assessments used in Analysis, Opinion or attributed evaluations of authority. Somali copy uses the corresponding forms. Exact quotations, official institutional titles, historical references and documentary records retain their original meaning.

News, analysis and Op-Ed

News reporting separates factual findings from interpretation. Analysis states its evidentiary basis. Op-Ed is a separate editorial section for signed argument and commentary. Op-Ed pieces express the views of their authors and are visually and structurally separated from newsroom reporting. The Op-Ed section is overseen by Chief Editor Cawil M Warfaa and Op-Ed Editor Elmi Yasin.

Images

Every image must be substantively relevant to the story it accompanies. Relevant images may depict the reported event, place, institution, person, documentary record, infrastructure, or reported human, security or economic condition. Generic filler images that merely evoke a country, region, government, conflict, poverty, hunger or another broad theme without a concrete connection to the story are not used.

When a defensible direct event or documentary image is available with usable rights, PUNT NEWS prefers it over a looser contextual image. Every image requires a traceable source, date when known, applicable permission or license, descriptive alt text and a factual caption. Archival or contextual images are explicitly labeled and are not presented as photographs of a current event. Generated illustrations, if used, must be clearly identified.

People and communities

Coverage uses respectful, specific language and avoids collective blame based on nationality, religion, ethnicity, race or other group identity. The actions of a government, political organization, armed group or individual are not attributed collectively to a population.