Editorial Guidelines

Mission Statement

This publication was founded in 2016 to bring a new and independent voice to the current media landscape. Merion West is non-partisan and publishes critical commentary and in-depth interviews from across the political spectrum. As a publication, we serve the interests of the public, rather than any particular political party or interest group, financial or ideological. Read more on the About page.

Ethics Policy

Merion West is an online magazine committed to bringing a diversity of different perspectives to our readers on the relevant issues of the day. Our ethics policy follows the Society of Professional Journalists’  Code of Ethics, with independence, transparency, and a commitment to impartiality.

Labeling Policy

Alongside each political article or interview, the magazine provides a label indicating where along the left-right political spectrum the opinion author or interview guest lies, based on that individual’s personal political preferences. Authors and interviewees who identify their political philosophy as left-of-center are labeled “The Left” at the time of publication, with the same logic applied to those who identify as right-of-center or neither (labeled “The Right” and “The Center,” respectively). While we acknowledge that most people do not fall perfectly under a single category, this policy is central to how Merion West seeks to make biases transparent to our readers.

Free Speech

While Merion West is committed to being a magazine where a variety of differing perspectives can be shared, this should not be understood as being welcoming to the publication of any and all views. Broadly stated, this means that the magazine does not welcome opinions that are considered hateful, libelous, inciting violence, or are otherwise extreme, as determined by the editorial board. You can find our Principles for Discourse here.

Conflicts of Interest

Merion West aims to avoid conflicts of interest, including not permitting any coverage by journalists of subjects with whom they have a personal, financial, or political relationship.

Corrections Policy

Whenever our editorial team becomes aware of any errors or misstatements in our reporting or commentary, we work promptly to revise said errors, and we then include a prominently placed editor’s note informing readers of the correction and of the error in the previous version of the article.

Pseudonyms

Merion West does not accept pseudonymous submissions.

Article Removal

Articles published in the pages of Merion West are considered to be part of the historical record. As such, the magazine maintains a firm policy of not removing, modifying, or deleting works that have been previously published.

Verification Standards

Merion West works diligently to ensure that all claims are properly fact-checked and examined for accuracy. Our editorial team conducts a line-by-line review of each article to ensure that each claim is correct and properly sourced and/or hyperlinked. In the event of a dubious claim being made by an interviewee, a Merion West interviewer will either press the interview guest for further explanation or will seek to clarify said claim after the interview’s completion.  

Unnamed Sources

Merion West believes strongly in refraining from publishing content that is based on speculation or rumors. As such, the publication avoids the use of unnamed or anonymous sources. In the exceedingly rare event that such sources might need to be used, their accounts would be checked against other corroborating sources that are willing to go on the record. And such sources would need to have a very compelling reason for their need to remain anonymous.

Feedback from Readers

We welcome feedback on all content produced and published at Merion West. Readers can email the editor, Erich J. Prince, directly at erich@merionwest.com or the publisher, Henri Mattila, at henri@merionwest.com.

Ownership

Merion West is owned and operated by Merion West Co, a Pennsylvania-based not-for-profit corporation.