Arab Times UAE reports on rules that decide whether people can work, stay or travel. Getting that wrong costs readers money and sometimes their residency. These are the standards our journalists are held to.
Independence and conflicts of interest
- Our journalists do not accept payment, gifts, free travel, hospitality or favours from any person or organisation they report on. Items of nominal value that cannot be returned are declined or donated.
- No journalist writes about a company, agency or individual in which they, or a close family member, have a financial or personal interest. Where such an interest exists it must be declared to the Chief Editor, who reassigns the story.
- We do not accept payment to publish, suppress, amend or remove a news article. Requests to do so are refused and, where relevant, reported on.
Fairness
- Anyone facing significant criticism or an allegation in our reporting is given a fair and timely opportunity to respond before publication, and their response is carried in the article.
- Where a person or organisation declines to comment, we say so.
- We do not report allegations as findings. Charges, investigations and convictions are different things and we describe them precisely.
Privacy and dignity
- We do not publish private information about private individuals without a clear public interest.
- We take particular care with immigration status, criminal proceedings, health and finances — categories where publication can cause serious and lasting harm.
- We do not identify children, victims of sexual offences, or people at risk of retaliation.
- We do not publish graphic images of death or injury where they add nothing but distress.
Communities
Much of our audience are migrant workers. We do not describe people by nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, caste or immigration status unless it is directly relevant to the story, and we do not attribute the acts of an individual to the community they belong to.
Identification
Our journalists identify themselves as journalists when reporting. We do not obtain information by misrepresentation, and we do not use covert methods except where there is a serious public interest that cannot be served any other way and the Chief Editor has approved it in advance.
Plagiarism and attribution
Passing off another person's work as our own is a dismissible offence. Where we use another organisation's reporting, images or data, we credit and link to it. Where we use material under fair dealing, we quote no more than is necessary.
Enforcement
Breaches of this policy are handled by the Chief Editor, Lov Singh. Readers who believe this policy has been breached should write to hello@gulfhindi.com; the process is described on our Complaints & Grievance Redressal page.