Glossary
Editorial independence
An outlet's ability to make news judgments free from interference by owners, advertisers, sources, or political actors.
Editorial independence is a structural concept, not a content concept. It doesn't mean the outlet is unbiased — every outlet has a worldview. It means that decisions about *which* stories to run and *how* to frame them are made by editors and reporters based on news values, not commercial or political pressure. Major threats: ownership concentration, advertiser veto power, billionaire patron interference, government licensing leverage. Signs of healthy editorial independence: published corrections policies, transparent funding disclosures, clear separation of news desk from opinion section. See also: media ownership.
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