Effective Date: May 17, 2026
At TN News HUB, our primary allegiance is to our readers—the citizens of Tennessee. We believe that access to independent, factual, and unbiased local journalism is essential to a free society. Out of frustration with politically motivated, corporate-driven mainstream media, we have established this Code of Ethics to hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and fairness.
Every editor, reporter, and contributor at TN News HUB must strictly adhere to the following principles.
1. Seek Truth and Report It
Our job is to uncover the facts, not spin a narrative. We do not exist to tell Tennesseans what to think, but to provide them with the clear, unvarnished information they need to make their own decisions.
- Factual Accuracy: We cross-reference and verify all information before publication. We lean decisively on primary sources, public records, and direct observation over second-hand reports or rumors.
- Context Over Sensationalism: We do not manipulate headlines to drive clicks or outrage. Stories are presented with the necessary context to prevent distortion or misrepresentation.
- Separation of Fact and Opinion: TN News HUB is an independent news platform, not an opinion blog. We keep editorial commentary entirely separate from news reporting, ensuring our hard news remains strictly objective and non-partisan.
2. Independence and Objectivity
To remain a news source Tennesseans can count on, we maintain total independence from political parties, corporate conglomerates, and special interest groups.
- No Political Affiliations: TN News HUB does not endorse political candidates, donate to political campaigns, or align with any political faction. Our newsroom remains fiercely independent of the political establishment.
- Conflict of Interest: Our staff and contributors must avoid any professional or personal activities that compromise their journalistic objectivity. Any potential or unavoidable conflict of interest regarding a story topic must be fully disclosed to the Editor-in-Chief and to the reader.
- The Advertising Wall: We maintain an impenetrable wall between our business operations (advertising/donations) and our newsroom. Advertisers, corporate sponsors, and donors have absolutely zero influence over our coverage, selection of stories, or editorial stance.
3. Transparency and Accountability
Trust is built on transparency. We are fully accountable for the content we publish and are dedicated to correcting the record when we fall short.
- Source Transparency: We strongly favor on-the-record, named sources. We only grant anonymity when a source faces clear, severe professional or personal retaliation, and only when the information they possess is of vital public interest and verifiable through alternative means.
- Errors and Corrections: No news organization is infallible, but credible ones admit their mistakes. If a factual error is discovered, TN News HUB will correct it promptly and transparently. A formal correction note detailing what was changed and when will be appended to the top of the corrected article.
- Plagiarism and AI Content: Plagiarism is entirely forbidden. All content must be original, attributed, and thoroughly vetted. We do not use generative AI to write our news reports; our stories are researched and written by real, local journalists.
4. Minimize Harm
While our duty is to report the truth, we recognize that aggressive journalism must be balanced with a respect for human dignity and the rights of individuals.
- Fairness in Reporting: We give the subjects of our news stories a fair and meaningful opportunity to respond to allegations or criticisms before publication.
- Privacy Considerations: We show sensitivity when dealing with victims of crime, minors, and private citizens who are inadvertently thrust into the public eye. We distinguish between those seeking public office or power and private individuals caught up in events.
Oversight and Enforcement
This Code of Ethics is overseen directly by our Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Ernesto Weigandt. It is a living document, reviewed annually to ensure our newsroom constantly adapts to modern journalistic challenges while remaining anchored to traditional, foundational reporting ethics.
Report a Violation or Feedback
If you believe a story published by TN News HUB has violated these ethical standards, please use our contact form.