MorningTimes.uk, operated by Windmill Hill Media Ltd. (company number 130642, registered office Suite 12, Neptune House, Marina Bay, Gibraltar GX11 1AA), is a digital news publication editorially focused on UK audiences. This Safeguarding & Minors Policy sets out the additional care we take when covering children, young people, schools, youth organisations, events involving minors, or stories that reference young individuals.
Who is responsible for safeguarding at MorningTimes.uk?
The Editor-in-Chief, Edward Sterling, and the Standards & Fact-Checking Lead, Helen Carver, are ultimately responsible for this policy. Edward oversees editorial standards and publication decisions; Helen leads fact-checking, source verification and corrections review. All editorial staff receive training on handling stories involving minors.
Edward Sterling can be reached at edward.sterling@morningtimes.uk and Helen Carver at helen.carver@morningtimes.uk. The policy is reviewed annually and updated as legal or ethical best practice evolves. Our full team details, including the Managing Editor Catherine Lowe and specialist editors, are listed on the Our Team page.
What additional care do we take when reporting on or about minors?
We exercise particular caution when reporting on children, young people under 18, schools, youth organisations or events involving minors. We avoid sensationalising their involvement, publishing unnecessary private details, or using invasive imagery. The best interests of the child always guide our editorial decisions.
Where possible, we seek informed consent from a parent or guardian before interviewing or photographing a minor. In sensitive stories — those involving crime, trauma, family breakdown or health issues — we may anonymise identities, blur faces or use pseudonyms to protect the young person’s welfare. We never publish names of minors involved in legal or criminal proceedings unless it is clearly in the public interest and legally permissible under UK law. MorningTimes.uk’s Editorial Policy provides the overarching framework for these standards.
How does our editorial review process apply to stories involving minors?
Any story that references a minor or covers a subject directly affecting children must undergo additional editorial review by the Standards & Fact-Checking Lead, Helen Carver. This extra layer ensures that source verification, consent documentation and the framing of the story meet our heightened safeguarding standards.
The review is integrated into our normal newsroom workflow, which is managed by the Managing Editor Catherine Lowe. Helen Carver checks for unnecessary personal details, compliance with data protection law, and consistency with our Editorial Policy. Her team also reviews any imagery or video featuring minors to ensure it is not invasive or exploitative. The Our Team page lists all editorial staff involved in this process.
What privacy protections apply to minors in our content and data handling?
We adhere to strict data protection principles for all individuals, with heightened safeguards for minors. Personal information about children — including names, images, school details and family circumstances — is only collected, used or stored with appropriate consent and in line with our Privacy Policy.
We do not use minors’ data for marketing, profiling or commercial purposes. Affiliate links and sponsored content that could be seen by children are clearly labelled, and commercial relationships never influence editorial decisions about coverage of young people. Our full data handling practices are detailed in the Privacy Policy.
How can readers raise concerns about coverage of minors?
Concerns about any content involving a minor can be submitted to our complaints email address: complaints@morningtimes.uk. We operate a formal complaints procedure that ensures all safeguarding issues are investigated promptly and thoroughly.
Complaints are reviewed by Helen Carver and, where necessary, escalated to Edward Sterling. We acknowledge receipt within two working days and aim to provide a substantive response within 15 working days. The full process, including how to escalate if you are not satisfied, is set out in our Complaints Procedure.
Our commitments
- We always consider the best interests of the child before publishing any content involving a minor.
- We seek appropriate consent from parents or guardians when interviewing or photographing children, and we anonymise identities where necessary.
- We avoid unnecessary detail that could identify or embarrass a minor, particularly in stories about crime, trauma, health or family issues.
- We require additional editorial review by the Standards & Fact-Checking Lead for every story referencing a minor, in line with our Editorial Policy.
- We maintain a clear and accessible complaints process for any safeguarding concerns, with prompt investigation and transparent outcomes.