QC's Code of Practice

A​publisher’s editorial standards code of practice is an important document because it details the ethical standards by which a publisher holds itself to.

It prescribes how information is gathered, how it is filtered, what is appropriate to use and how it can be used. It is the moral heart of the news production process and complaints to an organisation are typically a result of an alleged breach of the editorial standards.

Organisations should always have their own editorial standards code of practice which is usually a variation of one of the two codes applied by the two UK regulators, IPSO and Impress.

QC will always judge media organisations accountable to a fair and transparent editorial standard.

I​​​f an organisation that QC investigates utilises its own publicly available editorial standards which is deemed suitable, QC will apply these standards in its investigation. This document must be published on all websites of the organisation and should be easily found.

If an organisation does not have a published and publicly-available editorial standards code, or does not apply an editorial standards code that is fit for purpose according to current publishing standards, QC will utilise standards based on the IPSO Editor’s Code of Practice for its investigation.

The IPSO Editor’s Code of Practice can be found here. The current version was first published by IPSO in January 1, 2025.

A PDF copy of the January 1, 2025 version can be downloaded from here. Should this document become unavailable, QC holds a duplicate copy of it here.