Editorial Policy

7NEWS is the news service of the Seven Network, and was founded in 1958.

7NEWS.com.au is a leading online news destination in Australia and operates under the Seven West Media Group Editorial Policy.

This ensures the independence of our editorial content, and journalistic integrity.

Our readers expect news and public affairs content that is fast, accurate, informative, engaging and 7NEWS.com.au has a commitment to be responsive to the needs and attitudes of its broad and diverse audience.

Independence of editorial content

Editorial content published under the 7NEWS masthead is created and delivered by our team of journalists without external influence.

News and public affairs personnel working across all Seven West Media platforms are required to familiarise themselves with all applicable policies and codes of practice and use them as ethical guidelines in their work.

All editorial, news and public affairs personnel must comply with the Australian legal framework and reporters, editors and producers should seek manager or legal advice wherever necessary.

Key principles

• Ensure accuracy, fairness and the consideration of all essential facts;
• Use accurate pictures and sound;
• Use accurate quotes and paraphrasing;
• Respect individuals and groups and not gratuitously emphasise age, colour, gender, race, ethnic or national origin, disability, religion or sexual preference;
• Be willing to make reasonable efforts to correct significant errors of fact fairly and promptly;
• Use appropriate means to obtain material;
• Avoid plagiarism.

The Seven West Media Editorial Policy requires that all editorial, news and public affairs personnel will accord with the recommendations and requirements of the codes of practice and any existing guidelines applicable to the medium in which they operate, including:

Newspapers

• Editorial Policy of West Australian Newspapers
• Code of Ethics of the Australian Journalists’ Association Section of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance
• Editorial Policy of West Australian Newspapers
• Code of Ethics of the Australian Journalists’ Association Section of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance

Television

• Free TV Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice – January 2010
• The Australian Communications and Media Authority Privacy Guidelines for Broadcasters
• Code of Ethics of the Australian Journalists’ Association Section of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance

Radio

• Commercial Radio Australia Codes of Practice and Guidelines – June 2010
• Code of Ethics of the Australian Journalists’ Association Section of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance

Magazines and online services

• In recognition of the wide and varied services and material being carried and produced via these mediums, editorial, news and public affairs staff will endeavour where possible to respect the guidelines most applicable to the content being delivered.

Content distribution

7NEWS communicates across many different platforms including terrestrial broadcast, website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Apple News, Twitter, TikTok and others. Our editorial policy and standards apply across all platforms.

The Seven Network occasionally amplifies sponsored and paid branded content through these platforms, and these are clearly labelled as sponsored content or have platform-specific labelling such as on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Commercial content on 7NEWS.com.au

As part of our commitment to offering our audience engaging content, 7Life selects some products to showcase on 7NEWS.com.au. These articles contain affiliate links whereby 7 may earn a commission if you click on a link. There is no cost to you. The products are all individually selected by our team, who have an eye on trends and popular products you need to know about.

Reviews

Occasionally, external companies may loan products to the 7NEWS editorial team. These are usually time-limited samples so that we can spend time with them and evaluate. In any review that is published across our platforms, the business who has provided the loan product has no input or approval on the content, unless there are factual errors.

7NEWS may also agree to an embargo with a company or public relations team to allow us to review a product before its public release.

Corrections and errors

Whilst every effort is taken to ensure accuracy in our reporting, sometimes we can get things wrong. If an error does occur within a story, we will correct once it comes to the attention of the 7NEWS team.

Spelling, grammar and style errors will be corrected as part of our editorial process. However, if the error is factual, the correction will include an editorial acknowledgement within the story.

In addition to the above, 7NEWS may remove content that we believe infringes on intellectual property rights of any third party, as required by Australian federal and state law.

Feedback

If you have a news tip for the 7NEWS.com.au team, including video and photos, you can email us here.

For feedback or complaints, please contact us here.