Editorial policy

These rules bind every editor and every automated job that publishes as WeNepal. Where the software can enforce a rule, it does; editors enforce the rest.

1. Accuracy before speed. A late correct story beats an early wrong one. Our speed target is 15 minutes; our accuracy target is 100 per cent.
2. Independence. No party, government, company or sponsor directs coverage. Sponsored content is labelled.
3. Transparency. Every story says how it was made: the byline Dev Sagar (our newsroom editor) when staff built, edited or approved it, or LacNova AI (WeNepal's own newsroom AI) when it was prepared fully automatically. Sources are kept on record for review. Corrections are public and dated.
4. Fairness. Contested claims carry the other side. People named in negative stories are identified only when it is in the public interest.
5. Harm minimisation. No graphic imagery, no doxxing, no identification of minors or survivors of sexual violence, no glorification of violence or suicide.
6. Plain language. Written for a reader with eight years of schooling, in both Nepali and English.

• We need at least two independent sources before we publish a summary as fact, unless the single source is a primary document such as a gazette notice, a court order or an official press release.
• We build stories from public reports and official information and rewrite them in our own words. We do not name other news or media outlets anywhere public; every source used is kept on record with the story for review and corrections. Under every story: "From public sources and the WeNepal research team".
• People and official bodies are named when they are the subject or speaker of the news ("the ministry said"); a quote never names the outlet it came from.
• We never lift paragraphs, headlines or images. Own words only. A plagiarism check blocks drafts that copy from a source.
• Anonymous sources appear only in original reporting, approved by the senior editor, with the reason recorded.
• A social media post is a source only when the account is verified as the person or institution.

Stories on these subjects publish automatically only when they pass strict extra checks:

• Elections and politics
• Court cases, arrests and charges
• Deaths, violence and accidents
• Communal, caste or religious tension
• Named individuals, especially those facing allegations
• Health emergencies and outbreaks
• Anything involving minors

The checks:

1. At least two independent sources, or an official primary source such as a gazette notice, a court order or an official press release.
2. Neutral attribution ("police said…").
3. No accusation stated as fact.
4. No graphic detail, and nothing sub judice.
5. Minors are never named.

A story that fails is fixed once automatically. If it still fails, it is not published. Editors can edit, correct or unpublish any story at any time, and corrections follow our corrections policy.

Staff write, edit and approve stories; automated tools, including AI, help, and some stories are prepared and published automatically. No story reaches a reader without either a staff member's approval or passing every automatic check, including the strict checks for sensitive subjects.

• Stories built, edited or approved by staff carry the byline Dev Sagar, our newsroom editor, who answers for them. Stories prepared and published fully automatically carry the byline LacNova AI, the name of WeNepal's own newsroom AI. That name is never shortened to just "AI".
• Videos with a synthetic voice-over carry the platforms' own altered or synthetic content setting on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
• AI never invents quotes, numbers, names or dates. Drafts with facts not found in the sources are rejected.
• We never publish AI-generated images of real people.

How we use AI explains the process step by step.

• Nepali edition: standard written Nepali in Devanagari, with Devanagari numerals in body text and common Nepali words over Sanskritised or Hindi-influenced ones.
• English edition: British spelling, standard romanisation of Nepali names, NPR for currency, dates written as 25 September 2026, with the Bikram Sambat date alongside for official events.
• Headlines: at most 70 characters, no clickbait, no question headlines, no capitals for emphasis.
• Numbers: lakh and crore in Nepali; million and billion with lakh and crore in brackets in English.
• Titles, not honorifics: Prime Minister, Minister, MP, Chief Justice. No "Shri", no "-ji", no "Honourable".
• Party names in full on first mention, abbreviation after.

Major corrections and retractions are listed on the public corrections page. To report an error or ask for a right of reply, write to corrections@wenepal.com or use the contact form.

Comments, where enabled, are open on routine stories and closed on sensitive ones. They are checked by an automated moderation model before they appear and by a moderator afterwards. Hate speech, threats, doxxing, spam and impersonation are removed: first offence hidden, second a seven-day mute, third a ban.

Newsroom staff declare party membership, family in public office and financial interests. Declared conflicts remove them from related stories. Our technology provider and its clients have no influence on coverage; when a story touches the technology provider or one of its clients, a second editor reviews it.