Our approach to safeguarding and minors
NorwichWire.co.uk takes its responsibility towards children and young people seriously. When covering schools, youth organisations, young performers, families, children, crime stories involving minors or community incidents that affect children, we apply additional care at every stage of reporting and publication. Our aim is to inform the public without causing harm, respecting the welfare and dignity of young people while fulfilling our role as a local and regional news publication.
What we avoid
- Sensationalising minors or presenting them in a way that exploits their age or vulnerability
- Publishing unnecessary private details such as home addresses, school timetables, social media handles, or non-public contact information
- Using invasive or emotive imagery of children, especially in distress, unless there is a demonstrable public-interest justification
- Disclosing non-public information about a child’s family circumstances, health, education or behaviour without clear editorial approval
What we focus on
Our coverage of minors is centred on their professional work (for example, young performers, athletes or award winners), public appearances at organised events, official statements from schools, youth clubs or authorities, and clearly relevant public-interest contexts such as safeguarding concerns, public safety risks or significant community decisions that affect children. We always seek to frame stories in a way that respects the individual’s long-term wellbeing and privacy.
Additional editorial review
Any story involving a minor — whether as a subject, witness, victim or participant — goes through extra scrutiny. Our Standards & Fact-Checking Lead, Daniel Keane, reviews all such content before publication. This ensures that our reporting meets the high standards set out in our Editorial Policy and that any potential risks to the child have been properly considered. You can learn more about our team and their responsibilities on our Our Team page.
Privacy protections
As a matter of routine, we avoid publishing private addresses, private contact information, non-public medical information, details that could reveal a child’s location in real time, and any identifying information about vulnerable individuals unless a clear public-interest reason has been established and approved by a senior editor. For full details of how we handle personal data, including data relating to minors, please see our Privacy Policy.
Reporting concerns
If you believe that NorwichWire.co.uk has published content that does not meet these standards, or if you have a safeguarding concern about a story involving a minor, please contact us immediately at complaints@norwichwire.co.uk. We treat all such communications confidentially and will investigate promptly. Our Complaints Procedure outlines the steps we follow to resolve concerns.
This policy applies to all editorial content, including text, images, video and audio. It is reviewed annually by the editorial team and the Standards & Fact-Checking Lead to ensure it remains effective and aligned with best practice in journalism and child safeguarding.