Standards & Ethics Policy

The San Francisco Standard is committed to fair, accurate, timely and in-depth coverage of the City, through written stories, photos, video, audio and other forms of media, distributed across many channels. 

We will always be as transparent as possible about the sources of our information. All stories are vetted with care, and with special attention to fairness. We will always seek comment from the subjects of our journalism and offer fair right of reply.

We attempt to limit the use of confidential sources, but they are nonetheless often necessary for telling important stories. If a story is based on a confidential source we require additional corroboration, and all such stories are subject to extra review.

We always credit other publications when we are building on their reporting or citing information they uncovered. 

We do not use pseudonyms, and we do not mislead readers about the identities of people who appear in our stories. By the same token, we do not mislead people about our own identity or endeavors. We do not engage in undercover investigations.

We will be prompt and direct in correcting errors of fact and responding to complaints. Correction requests can be sent to corrections@sfstandard.com.

Typos and other minor errors will be corrected as quickly as possible, normally without any correction notice. For more substantive errors, the story will be corrected and a notice placed prominently on the page. We will often update stories to add information; if an update includes a significant correction, it will include a notice. We may at times append “clarifications,” or an editor’s note, explaining the context in unusual situations.

Our journalists are subject to rigorous conflict-of-interest rules. We do not accept gifts. We pay for our own meals, with some exceptions in the case of group settings. We do not accept free trips. We do not seek preferential treatment from any government agency, business or individual based on our status as journalists. We do not accept free tickets to events, except for press passes for events we are covering. We do not accept payment, honoraria or other kinds of compensation for speeches or public appearances.

We avoid owning stock in companies that may be subjects of our coverage. In cases where conflicts that could affect our journalism do arise, we will disclose them.

As part of our commitment to journalistic independence, we do not take leadership roles in political causes or other forms of social activism. We do not run for office, or take an active role in any political campaigns.