ਸੰਪਾਦਕੀ ਮਿਆਰ

1. Purpose

Kalam Di Goonj (ਕਲਮ ਦੀ ਗੂੰਜ) is a Punjabi-first magazine of literature, poetry, opinion, history, culture, folk tales, current affairs, and community voices, published from Surrey, British Columbia by Northview Productions Inc. That purpose shapes our ethics: to give people’s voices room to echo, to treat historical fact with respect, and to present diverse perspectives fairly, including perspectives we find uncomfortable.

2. Accuracy and verification

We hold ourselves to accuracy, fairness, and context. We do not claim to be error-free. We do commit to the practices that make errors rare and short-lived:

• Verification before publication. Factual claims in reporting are checked against sources under our fact-checking procedures. We distinguish what we know, what we are told, and what we infer, and the writing reflects that distinction.
• Sourcing standards. We prefer named, first-hand sources and documents. Anonymous sources are used only where the information is material and cannot safely be attributed, on editor-approved conditions, and we tell readers as much about the source’s position as we safely can.
• Contested history. Much of what we publish concerns Partition, 1984, migration, and colonial rule. Where history is contested we present the significant perspectives, state what the documentary record supports and where it is silent, and supply context rather than a single verdict. Works republished from the archive carry framing that identifies the era and the standpoint they were written from.

3. Fairness and the right of reply

Where our journalism criticizes a person or organization in a significant way, fairness requires that they have an opportunity to respond. Before publication we make reasonable efforts to put the substance of the criticism to them and to carry their response, or to note that they declined. After publication, anyone significantly criticized may seek a right of reply through our complaints process. Fairness does not soften our conclusions; it means nobody first learns of a serious allegation against them from our pages.

4. Independence

Editorial decisions at Kalam Di Goonj are made on editorial grounds. We are independent and non-partisan: no political party, advertiser, donor, or patron directs, vetoes, or purchases our coverage. Commercial relationships are disclosed where they exist. Paid or sponsored material, if we carry any, is labelled as such and excluded from editorial decision-making. Our Independence Statement sets out the full commitments, including election-period practice and ownership disclosure.

5. Labelling

Readers should never have to guess what they are reading. We separate reporting from opinion and label content by kind under our labelling standard: reporting, opinion, translation, archive, submitted, and, if it ever exists, sponsored. An opinion column is argued rather than neutral and says so. A translation names its translator and its source. An archival piece is dated and framed. The label forms part of our accuracy commitment.

6. Authors’ views are their own

We publish many voices because they differ. Published views are the author’s or speaker’s own, and publication does not imply endorsement by the Company or the Publication. The same applies to interviewees: reporting what someone said is not agreement with it. What publication does imply is our judgement that the piece merited our readers’ attention and met these standards.

7. Minimizing harm

In deciding what to publish and how, we weigh public interest against private harm:

• Privacy. Private facts about identifiable people are published only where the public interest justifies it.
• Victims and survivors. People who have suffered violence or tragedy are treated with dignity. We avoid gratuitous detail and avoid re-identification without consent where the law or ordinary decency counsels restraint.
• Children. Minors receive heightened protection in identification, imagery, and consent, under our internal procedures and the guardian-consent framework.
• Communal sensitivity. We report on and criticize faiths and communities freely without inflaming. Our Anti-Discrimination Policy draws the line between covering hatred and amplifying it.

8. Plagiarism

Plagiarism, meaning the presentation of another’s words, work, or ideas as one’s own, is grounds for dismissal and for unpublishing. It covers copied text, unattributed translation, and recycled work presented as new. Quotation with attribution is essential to criticism; unattributed appropriation is not. Submissions are screened, and confirmed plagiarism is corrected publicly.

9. AI and automated tools

Where AI or automated tools play a material role in producing what you read or hear, whether in drafting, translation, transcription, narration, or imagery, we disclose it under our AI & Automated Tools Disclosure. Tools assist our work; they do not replace human editorial judgement or responsibility. Every published piece has a named human accountable for it.

10. Corrections

We correct material errors visibly and promptly, by correction, clarification, update, or, where warranted, retraction, under our Corrections Policy. We do not silently rewrite the record.

11. Gifts and conflicts

Our writers and editors do not accept gifts, payments, hospitality, or favours that could reasonably be seen to influence coverage, and they disclose personal, financial, and political interests touching their subjects. Where disclosure cannot cure a conflict, the work is reassigned. The detailed rules are in our internal conflicts policy; the public commitments are in our Independence Statement.

12. Holding us to this

If you believe we have fallen short of these standards, whether through an error, an unfairness, a mislabel, or a conflict, tell us. Write to [email protected] or use the process in our Complaints, Appeals & Right of Reply page. We acknowledge complaints within five business days and answer them on the merits.

13. Limits of this page

• It states our standards and the effort we commit to them. It is not a warranty that every published word is accurate, and it is not enforceable as a contract.
• “Non-partisan” means no party allegiance and no party direction. It does not mean our writers hold no views, or that opinion pieces are neutral.
• Publishing a perspective, including in translation or from the archive, is not endorsement of it. See section 6.