TheIndianIdiot / The publication
Editorial standards
The Indian Idiot is published by TII Media Private Limited, and our stories carry the byline The Indian Idiot Desk. These are the standards every story is held to, before it is published and after.
Verification and sources
We publish only what we can verify. Facts come from credible, identifiable sources: official statements, police and court records, documents, established news organisations and public posts by the people involved. A social media post is a lead, not proof, until it is confirmed. When credible sources disagree on a detail, we leave that detail out rather than guess.
Every article lists its sources with links at the end, and statements are attributed to the person or outlet they came from.
Quotes
Quotes are reproduced exactly as they were said or written, and we say who said them and where, for example “she wrote on X” or “he told reporters”. We shorten a quote only at the end of a sentence, never in a way that changes its meaning, and we never present a paraphrase as a quote. If we cannot confirm someone’s exact words, we paraphrase and say where the account comes from. When a public post is itself part of the story, we may embed it alongside its exact text.
Allegations and accused persons
An accusation is not a finding. Until a claim is proven or decided by a court, we describe it as alleged and make clear who is making it. When someone is arrested or charged, we report that without implying guilt. We do not speculate or fill gaps with guesswork. Stories involving politics, communal tensions or serious new allegations against named people are reviewed by the publisher before they are published.
Survivors, victims and children
We never identify survivors of sexual violence, whether by name or through details such as their village, school, workplace or relatives, in line with Indian law. Children involved in crimes, as victims or as accused, are not named or identified. We avoid graphic descriptions and leave out unnecessary details about victims’ families.
Sections and explainers
Each story appears in one section only: National, Wholesome, Tech, Crime, Pop Culture or Trending. Explainers, which give background to a story in the news, are labelled Explained.
Images
Every article image has a caption that says what it is. We use two kinds of images.
Photographs from copyright-free or openly licensed sources, such as Wikimedia Commons. We check the licence of the exact file before using it and credit the creator, the licence, a link to the original and any cropping or resizing. File photos are labelled as file or archival images and are not presented as pictures of the latest event.
AI-generated illustrations, used when no suitable licensed photograph exists. They are always labelled as AI-generated illustrations and are never presented as photographs. We do not make AI images of real, identifiable people or use them to suggest evidence of an event.
We do not take images from news websites or social media posts, and being available online does not make an image free to use.
Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it. When a correction changes a fact, the article is updated and a correction note at the end of the article explains what changed. Small edits that do not change the facts, such as spelling or wording, are made without a note. If an article turns out to be unreliable, we withdraw it.
To report an error, email charansh@theindianidiot.com with the article link, the statement you believe is wrong and any supporting source. We review every request, though we cannot promise a set response time.