South China Morning Post
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The South China Morning Post’s editorial floor at its Times Square office in Hong Kong. Photo: Martin Chan
Announcements

South China Morning Post joins the Trust Project, becoming the first news organisation in Asia to do so

  • Trust Project is a worldwide initiative that provides standards of news production to help readers identify credible journalism
  • Here’s what that means for readers like you
Tammy Tam
Tammy Tam
Why you can trust SCMP

To our readers,

At a time when the world needs swift and objective coverage from credible news sources, it is fitting that the South China Morning Post has joined the Trust Project. The name speaks for itself.

The Trust Project is a worldwide initiative that provides standards of news production to help readers identify credible journalism. Today, we join 32 other well-respected news sites that believe in the importance of holding ourselves to high standards and combating misinformation and fake news.

To our editorial team, it means that we now join a consortium of the world’s top media companies that includes the BBC, The Washington Post and The Economist. As a global network of world-class news outlets, we are all working towards the same goal to affirm and amplify journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy and inclusion.

The initiative is also supported by tech platforms such as Google, Facebook and Bing, who use the Trust Indicators to guide how they carry quality journalism.

Qualifying for the Trust Project meant having our newsroom undergo a rigorous process of checks and balances. Essentially, it was an exercise in making the journalistic ethics that we knew as a company transparent to readers. That meant being consistent across the company and being aligned to a global standard.

I am also proud to share that the SCMP is the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project. With this collaboration, SCMP is continuing to lead on the issues of press freedom and journalistic integrity across Asia. It also underlines our commitment to lead the global conversation on China and Asia with trustworthy, comprehensive reporting from our vantage point in Hong Kong.

Our participation in the Trust Project helps you see how our news production lives up to the high standards of journalism that informs and educates readers.

So what does the Trust Project mean for readers like you?

Now, more than ever, global citizens need transparency and education to prevent overreaction and panic. Our participation in the Trust Project helps you see how our news production lives up to the high standards of journalism that informs and educates readers. So you not only believe in the reliability of what you read, but also have the confidence to share it with others.

We do this by implementing a series of “Trust Indicators” in stories, pages and descriptions on the website. They inform readers about the type of article they are reading, journalist information and expertise, and company information such as ownership, editorial policies and best practices. It also translates to being open about our best practices, for example:
  • Revealing our code of ethics and comment policy
  • Sharing our policies on fact-checking, corrections, and sourcing
  • Providing labels on what type of information we are publishing - news, explainer, analysis, review, opinion
  • Publishing our Diverse Voices Statement and how it promotes a plurality of perspectives in our coverage
These indicators are just some of the ways that will allow you to trace SCMP's methodology and mark our journalism as credible, high-quality news. You can read more about the Trust Project and SCMP’s actions here on our Policies and Standards page.

We recognise that promoting global standards of journalism enables all news organisations to produce trusted information that contributes to a more informed society. Our participation in the Trust Project is our promise that you can continue to rely on the integrity of our reporting.

For more than a century, our newsroom has been dedicated to reporting, in an objective and balanced way, on the issues and implications of the latest developments in China and Hong Kong that impact global trends.

We look forward to continuing to deliver quality, independent journalism to you in the decades to come.

Yours sincerely,

Tammy Tam

Editor-in-Chief

South China Morning Post

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