Sources & Methodology

Primary Source Hierarchy

UK JournoHub operates a primary-source-first policy. Every factual claim on the site should be traceable to a source in the following hierarchy. Where we rely on a lower-tier source because no higher-tier source exists, we say so on the page.

Tier 1: Statute

Primary legislation is our highest-authority source for legal content. We cite Acts of Parliament as published on legislation.gov.uk, which publishes the revised (amended) version of acts in force. We cite the Act name, year, and section number (e.g. “Defamation Act 2013, s.1”) and link directly to the relevant provision. Where an act has been substantially amended, we note the amendment and its effect.

Key statutes in our content include: Defamation Act 2013, Contempt of Court Act 1981, Freedom of Information Act 2000, Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR (retained EU law as amended), Human Rights Act 1998, Official Secrets Act 1989, and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, among others. For Scottish content: Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021, Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Tier 2: Case Law

Where law has been shaped by judicial decisions, we cite case law using neutral citations (e.g. “[2019] EWHC 123”). We link to the judgment on BAILII where available, as the freely accessible repository of UK case law. Where BAILII does not carry the judgment, we cite the official court transcript reference.

We note the year of each judgment and flag where a later decision has materially affected an earlier ruling. We do not rely on press summaries of judgments as primary sources; we read the judgment itself.

Tier 3: Regulator Publications

For ethics and regulatory content, our primary sources are the official publications of UK journalism regulators and relevant bodies:

›NUJ (National Union of Journalists) — Code of Conduct, Freelance Fees Guide
›IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation) — Editors' Code of Practice, adjudications
›IMPRESS (Independent Monitor for the Press) — Standards Code, regulatory decisions
›Ofcom (Office of Communications) — Broadcasting Code, guidance notes
›ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) — GDPR guidance, FOI guidance, enforcement notices

Tier 4: Government Departments

For policy and guidance content, we use official government sources: GOV.UK, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for freelance tax guidance, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for guidance on charging decisions relevant to journalists.

Secondary Sources

Where no primary source exists, or where we use secondary sources to add context, we label them clearly as secondary. Our secondary sources include:

›Press Gazette— for UK media industry data and reporting on regulatory developments
›The Guardian (Media section)— for journalism industry context
›Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism— for research-based claims about journalism practice and industry trends
›City, University of London Journalism courses and other academic journalism programmes, for training and qualification data
›Index on Censorship, Reporters Without Borders— for press freedom data and journalism safety content

Secondary sources are always attributed and linked. We do not present a secondary source’s characterisation of a primary source without checking the primary source ourselves.

Crowdsourced Data Treatment

Our freelance rate guides draw on a combination of the NUJ Freelance Fees Guide and crowdsourced rate data submitted by working journalists. This is inherently imprecise data. We are transparent about that imprecision.

›Rate figures are shown as ranges, not single figures, to reflect genuine market variation.
›Every rate page carries a clear notice: “These figures are illustrative. Rates vary significantly by outlet, experience, specialism, and negotiation.”
›The data source and year of collection is noted on each rate page.
›We do not publish individual-level crowdsourced data; we aggregate it into anonymised ranges.

Date Stamps and Review Cadence

Every substantive page on UK JournoHub carries a “Last reviewed” date. This date reflects the most recent active editorial review, not the date of publication or the date of a cosmetic update.

Where a specific statute, code, or data point was last updated at a different date from the page review, we note that separately within the body of the content. For example: a legal guide reviewed in April 2026 might note that the relevant Act was last amended in 2023.

Review cadences: legal pages every 6 months; ethics codes when updated by the relevant body; rate guides annually; resource pages annually. See Editorial Standards for full schedule.

How We Handle Estimates and Ranges

Some data on UK JournoHub is inherently uncertain: freelance rates, typical salaries, the number of journalists employed in a sector. Where we present such figures, we follow these rules:

›Always shown as ranges(e.g. “£150–£400 per day”) rather than false-precision single figures.
›Source noted for every figure: where it comes from, when it was collected, and whether it is derived from NUJ data, crowdsourcing, or published research.
›Year-stamped: figures are dated so readers know how current they are.
›Labelled as illustrative where they cannot be independently verified against a single authoritative source.

Conflict-of-Interest Declarations

UK JournoHub currently has no commercial relationships, advertising arrangements, or financial interests in any organisation mentioned in our content. We do not receive funding from regulators, unions, publishers, or any other body in the journalism sector.

If any conflict of interest develops in the future — for example, if we enter into a sponsorship arrangement, or if a team member takes a role at a body we cover — it will be declared prominently on the relevant page(s) and in our editorial standards documentation.

Currently: no conflicts declared.

Update Process: Legal Pages

Legal pages are reviewed every 6 months as a minimum, and immediately following any significant legislative change or landmark court judgment. Our update process:

Check legislation.gov.uk for amendments to cited Acts since the last review
Check BAILII for significant judgments in the relevant area since the last review
Check the relevant regulator’s website for updated guidance since the last review
Update the body of the page to reflect any changes, noting what changed and when
Update the “Last reviewed” date only once the review is complete
Where changes are substantive, add an inline note so returning readers can see what has been updated

Update Process: Freelance Rate Guides

Rate guides are reviewed annually, timed to coincide with the NUJ Freelance Fees Guide annual update (typically published in the spring). Our update process:

Review the NUJ Freelance Fees Guide for the current year and note any significant changes to recommended minimums
Cross-check NUJ figures against available crowdsourced data and note any significant divergences
Update ranges on each rate page, clearly noting the source and year for each figure
Flag any sectors where insufficient data is available to give a meaningful range
Update the “Last reviewed” date once all rate pages have been checked

What Is Not a Primary Source

We are explicit about what does not qualify as a primary source for UK JournoHub content:

×Forum posts and social media(including journalism Slack groups, Twitter/X, Reddit) — unless the post is from a verified official account and is corroborated by a primary source
×Anonymous tips without corroboration— we do not publish claims we cannot verify against primary sources
×AI-generated summaries of law— AI may produce plausible but inaccurate summaries of statutes or case law; we always verify against the original source
×Summaries of summaries— we do not cite a secondary source’s paraphrase of a statute as if it were the statute itself
×Paywalled sources not independently verifiable— where we use paywalled research, we provide the full citation so readers can verify access, and we do not rely solely on such sources for key claims