Editorial policy

NEXTA is an independent professional media outlet serving audiences in Belarus, Eastern Europe and the international community. We report on matters of public interest, explain complex developments, and investigate propaganda, corruption, abuses of power, repression, war crimes, human-rights violations and threats to public safety.

Accuracy, independence, honesty, fairness, humanity, transparency and accountability guide our work. Censorship, political pressure and risks to sources make these standards especially important.

We provide reliable, relevant, timely and understandable information that helps people make sense of events, scrutinise institutions, make informed decisions and protect their rights.

• Defend the public’s right to know and freedom of expression.
• Expose propaganda, corruption and abuses of power.
• Explain developments in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Eastern Europe.
• Give a voice to people who are being silenced.
• Work quickly without putting speed above accuracy.

We check information before publication, compare evidence and identify uncertainty. Rumours, forecasts and allegations must not be presented as established facts. If we cannot independently confirm a detail, we make that clear.

Editorial decisions are made independently. Governments, political organisations, donors, advertisers, partners, platforms, sources and private interests cannot dictate our reporting. Financial or other support does not confer editorial control.

We do not fabricate evidence, distort quotations, plagiarise or present old footage as new. We credit sources whenever it is possible and safe.

We seek relevant context and, where possible, a response from people or organisations facing serious criticism or allegations. A refusal, an unanswered request or the need to publish urgently can be explained in the report. Fairness does not require treating a verified fact and a false claim as equally credible.

Readers should be able to distinguish news, analysis, investigations, fact-checks, interviews, opinion, satire and advertising. Strong opinion must not replace evidence.

We consider potential harm to sources, witnesses, victims, children and people facing persecution. We address substantiated complaints and make significant factual corrections visible.

Before publishing, editors assess who supplied information, how they obtained it, whether it can be corroborated, the available documentary or audiovisual evidence, possible manipulation, public interest and potential harm.

Important, disputed or accusatory reporting should have multiple independent confirmations where possible. Where this is not possible but publication serves a strong public interest, we identify the source and the limits of verification. Preliminary information and attributed claims must be labelled accordingly.

Our sources include public records, official statements, documents and databases, witnesses, experts, journalistic investigations, audiovisual material, audience submissions and confidential sources.

An official statement is not automatically a verified fact. Statements by authorities, armed forces, political parties, companies and public figures also require context and scrutiny.

We use anonymous sources when the information is of public interest, the source is in a position to know the facts and identification could create a risk. Confidential sources are protected and are not identified without consent, except in exceptional circumstances involving an immediate threat to life.

Images and recordings should represent reality rather than replace it. Technical improvements such as cropping, basic colour correction, stabilisation and audio normalisation must preserve meaning. Faces or voices may be obscured to protect identities.

Archive, illustrative, staged, reconstructed and AI-generated visuals must be clearly identified. We check the date, location, original source, authorship, context, signs of manipulation, previous publication, contributor safety and rights to use audience submissions as far as possible.

Images of death, torture, serious injury, sexual violence or children’s suffering require a compelling public-interest reason. We consider whether less distressing material can communicate the essential facts.

Our style can be direct, expressive, emotional, ironic or satirical. Headlines, thumbnails, captions, previews and social posts must nevertheless match the underlying material.

• No invented quotations or accusations.
• No exaggeration of casualties, scale or consequences.
• No misleading visual association between a person and a crime, corruption, violence or war.
• No archive visuals presented as current without a label.

AI may assist with draft structure, translations subject to checking, transcription, error detection, headline alternatives, analysis of open data and illustrative graphics. It does not replace journalism, editorial judgement or fact-checking.

AI-generated factual claims require independent verification. Synthetic images must not be passed off as documentary photographs. We do not fabricate quotations, documents, evidence, voices or video.

When AI materially affects the form or content of a published work, the newsroom should be able to explain its use. Human editors remain responsible for publication.

War, repression, terrorism, sabotage and security threats are matters of major public interest. We avoid publishing details that would directly endanger lives, including sensitive positions, routes, identities, sources and evacuation methods, unless an exceptional public-interest justification exists.

We treat casualty figures, claims by parties to a conflict, combat footage, prisoners, deaths and disappearances with particular care. We do not romanticise violence or reproduce propaganda without context.

Criticism should address actions, decisions, institutions and responsibility, rather than encourage collective hatred based on origin.

Children, survivors of violence and torture, refugees, political prisoners and people facing deportation or persecution require additional protection.

We do not identify a child, a survivor of sexual violence or another vulnerable person without a compelling public-interest reason and appropriate consent. Details that could reveal their identity, expose them to danger or compound trauma should be withheld. Interviews with people experiencing grief, fear, shock or dependence require special care.

Public interest is not the same as public curiosity. Personal information should be published only when directly relevant to a matter of public importance, such as corruption, conflicts of interest, abuses of power, safety or human rights.

We avoid unnecessary disclosure of home addresses, private phone numbers, children’s details, medical information, intimate details, relatives’ information and other data that could facilitate harassment, doxxing or physical harm.

NEXTA does not permit hate speech or discrimination. Personal characteristics such as nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, social status, illness or appearance are relevant only when they help explain the story.

We do not assign collective guilt to entire national, ethnic, religious or social groups, use dehumanising language or unnecessarily reinforce stereotypes. Discriminatory or extremist speech may be quoted when necessary for exposure, analysis or public understanding, with appropriate context.

A person should not be described as legally guilty before a court has established guilt. We distinguish suspicion, an accusation, an investigator’s or prosecutor’s claim, a judicial decision and the findings of a journalistic investigation.

Crime reporting should avoid unnecessary personal information and take particular care with minors, victims of sexual violence and people who have not been formally charged.

Editorial reporting is separate from advertising, partner projects and donor support. Commercial and partner material must carry an understandable label, such as advertising, partner content, a special project or supported content.

Advertisers, partners and donors do not gain the right to determine editorial conclusions, approve independent reporting, remove criticism or control publication decisions. Cooperation with organisations supporting freedom of expression, democracy, human rights and independent journalism must preserve this independence.

We respect copyright and intellectual property. Reporting based on another author’s work, a media investigation, a document or a public database must identify that source where appropriate.

We credit photographs, video, quotations and other material and do not present someone else’s work as our own. Attribution alone does not resolve every rights question; use must also be appropriate to the material and context.

We seek to correct factual errors promptly, clearly and openly. A correction should identify what was wrong and provide the accurate information. New information may be identified as an update or clarification.

A report may be removed if it contains a serious error, creates a safety threat, violates a child’s or victim’s rights, is unlawful, or resulted from hacking, forgery or an editorial malfunction. Removal is not a means of hiding inconvenient but accurate information.

We consider substantiated concerns about factual errors, distorted quotations, the right of reply, privacy, plagiarism, advertising labels, misleading visuals, discrimination and dangerous content.

Editorial concerns can be sent to contact@nexta.tv. The newsroom may decline to respond to threats, abuse, coordinated pressure campaigns, bot attacks or demands to censor information in the public interest.

People who contact independent media can face risks to their liberty, work, families, safety or lives. We minimise sensitive disclosures and consider the consequences of each publication.

When identification would place someone at risk, we seek ways to preserve the public value of a report without revealing dangerous details.

NEXTA can be fast, direct, visually strong and modern, but must remain accurate, independent and responsible. Strong journalism combines sound evidence, clear language, a confident presentation and responsibility for every word, frame and headline.

Our standard is to verify facts, preserve context, protect sources, respect people and correct errors.

NEXTA works in the public interest and for people’s right to reliable information. We distinguish fact from opinion and advertising, uphold privacy, reject hate speech and make editorial decisions independently of political, governmental, commercial and private interests.

This policy may be updated as journalism standards, law, technology and editorial practice develop. This public English edition is based on NEXTA’s editorial policy updated in May 2026; the English edition was prepared on 31 October 2026.