At Politikjournal24, we treat the safety and dignity of children and minors as a non-negotiable editorial priority, overriding all other commercial or competitive considerations. This policy is governed by Chefredaktör Simon Engels and enforced by Daniela Vogt, Ansvarig för faktagranskning, who provides additional review and sign-off for any content featuring individuals under the age of 18.
Who is responsible for enforcing this policy?
The ultimate responsibility for safeguarding minors in our journalism rests with Chefredaktör Simon Engels and our fact-checking lead, Daniela Vogt. Daniela Vogt, as Ansvarig för faktagranskning, conducts a mandatory secondary review for any article that names, quotes, or depicts a person under 18. This added layer of scrutiny ensures the child’s privacy, welfare, and legal rights are protected before publication. Our full team structure is detailed on the Our Team page.
What editorial principles apply to children and minors?
We apply a presumption of anonymity and extra caution for any minor featured in our reporting. This means we will not name a child or show their image without a compelling public-interest justification that is approved by Chefredaktör Engels. Even then, we prioritise blurring faces, using pseudonyms, and omitting identifying details such as school names or home neighbourhoods when the story does not require them.
We will never elicit comments from a minor without the explicit, informed consent of a parent or legal guardian, and we will not pressure or incentivise a child to speak. In cases involving court proceedings, social services, or sensitive personal circumstances, we default to non-identification unless a responsible adult guardian provides written consent and an editor confirms the minor understands the consequences of participation. Our Editorial Policy elaborates on these standards for vulnerable individuals.
How do we handle user-generated content or tips involving minors?
When a member of the public sends us photographs, videos, or stories that include minors, we treat that material as highly sensitive and never publish it without first verifying its origin and obtaining parental permission if identifiable. Our newsdesk team — reachable at tips@politikjournal24.de — will flag any such submission to the editors and to Daniela Vogt for assessment. We will not knowingly publish content submitted by a minor without first contacting a parent or guardian via a separate channel.
If we discover that a minor has been depicted in material submitted to us without appropriate consent, we will remove it immediately and review our handling process. This commitment extends to sponsored content, affiliates, and commercial partnerships: every advertising or promotional item that references children is subject to the same two-stage vetting by the editorial desk and the fact-checking lead.
How can someone report a safeguarding concern?
Anyone — a parent, teacher, organisation, or reader — who believes that a Politikjournal24 article, image, or video puts a minor at risk or breaches their privacy should contact us immediately at complaints@politikjournal24.de. We treat such reports as urgent and will respond within 24 hours, with a full internal review led by Chefredaktör Engels and Daniela Vogt. If a mistake has been made, we publish a correction and remove or amend the material without delay. Our Complaints Procedure provides the full process for escalating unresolved concerns.
What external resources do we signpost for young readers?
We do not target content at children, but children occasionally access our site. In every article where we reference topics such as bullying, abuse, online safety, or mental health, we include relevant helpline numbers and links to authoritative bodies such as the Swedish Children’s Ombudsman (Barnombudsmannen) or BRIS (Children’s Rights in Society). We also provide a clear link to our Privacy Policy so that young users and their guardians understand what data we may collect and how to request its deletion.
Our commitments
- We will not identify any minor without a public-interest justification approved by the Chefredaktör and additional review by our fact-checking lead, Daniela Vogt.
- We will always obtain verifiable parental or guardian consent before interviewing, quoting, or photographing a person under 18.
- We will immediately remove or correct any content that inadvertently breaches a minor’s privacy or safety upon receipt of a complaint to complaints@politikjournal24.de.
- We will apply the same safeguarding standards to sponsored content, affiliate links, and commercial partnerships as to editorial material, enforced by the same named editors.
- We will revise this policy annually and after every safeguarding incident, with changes recorded and published on our Ownership & Funding and Editorial Policy pages.