Standards
Editorial policy
The rules every person and every automated job follows when publishing under the WeNepal name.
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.
Our principles
- 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.
- Independence. No party, government, company or sponsor directs coverage. Sponsored content is labelled.
- Transparency. Sources are named and linked. AI assistance is disclosed. Corrections are public and dated.
- Fairness. Contested claims carry the other side. People named in negative stories are identified only when it is in the public interest.
- Harm minimisation. No graphic imagery, no doxxing, no identification of minors or survivors of sexual violence, no glorification of violence or suicide.
- Plain language. Written for a reader with eight years of schooling, in both Nepali and English.
What we publish
| Type | What it is | Who writes it | Who reviews it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 80 to 120 words on a story other outlets reported, three bullets, a source list | AI draft | Automatic checks for routine categories; an editor for everything else |
| Explainer | "What it means" for a summary, 150 to 300 words | AI draft and an editor | Always an editor |
| Original | Reported by a WeNepal editor or stringer | Editor | A second editor |
| Pulse | Morning and evening digest of the top five to seven stories | AI draft | Desk editor |
| Tracker update | A change in the status of a government promise | Editor | A senior editor for "Broken" |
| Radar profile | A leader or institution page | Editor, with an AI activity feed | Editor |
| Breaking | An alert pushed to every channel | Editor | A senior editor |
| Editorial | WeNepal's own opinion | Editor-in-Chief | Steering group informed |
| Sponsored | Paid content | Sponsor and our growth team | Editor approves the label and placement |
Sourcing
- 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.
- Every summary lists every source used, by outlet name and link, on the page and in social captions.
- 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 that always wait for an editor
The engine never publishes these on its own:
- Elections and the Election Commission
- Court cases, arrests and charges
- Deaths, violence and accidents with named victims
- Communal, caste or religious tension
- Named individuals facing allegations
- Health emergencies and outbreaks
- National security, the army and the border
- Anything involving minors
- Single-source claims with no primary document
- Anything our sensitivity or misinformation checks flag
How we use AI
AI drafts; editors decide. No story reaches a reader without either an editor's approval or passing the automatic checks for a routine category.
- Every AI-assisted item carries the label "AI-assisted summary · Reviewed by WeNepal", or "Auto-published · routine" when the engine published it without a human.
- Synthetic voice-over and generated backgrounds in videos are labelled "AI voice" and "AI illustration".
- 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.
The AI policy explains the pipeline step by step.
Language and style
- 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.
Corrections and takedowns
| Level | When | What we do | How fast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typo | Spelling or formatting | Fixed silently | Immediately |
| Correction | A factual error that does not change the story | Fixed, with a dated "Corrected" note at the bottom | Within one hour of confirmation |
| Major correction | An error that changes the meaning | Fixed, with a note at the top and a correction posted on our channels | Within one hour; senior editor informed |
| Retraction | The story was wrong | Body replaced with a retraction note; social posts deleted | Immediately |
| Legal takedown | A legal notice | Story unpublished pending review; response within 48 hours | See the terms |
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 and community
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.
Conflicts of interest
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.