Four traditions, one masthead
Investigation
Evidence first
FOI work, data and exposés. Carefully sourced, documents shown where we can.
Analysis
What works
Policy analysis and expert voices — clearly signposted, always attributed.
News
The record
Court reports, statistics and news of record, presented without partisan framing.
First person
Lived experience
Prisoners, former prisoners, families and staff as primary sources, not case studies.
The triple-reader test
Before a story is published, we imagine three readers: a member of the public who knows nothing about prisons, a prisoner reading it inside, and a professional who works in the system. A good Prison News story serves all three without talking down to any of them.
Editorial standards
- Consent and safety. Consent from people in prison must be genuine and informed. We anonymise by default when naming could put someone at risk.
- Suicide and self-harm. We follow the Samaritans’ media guidelines and always signpost support.
- Contempt of court. Court reports are checked against the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and any reporting restrictions.
- Corrections. We correct in public, dated and linked. We never silently edit published copy.
Funding & independence
Prison News is editorially independent. Our funders and any commercial partners have no say over what we publish.