Our standards

If we fall short of these standards, tell us. We’ll make it right.

What counts as joy

Joylet covers what’s going right: problems being solved, people and animals getting a second chance, communities coming together, and discoveries offering real hope.

We don’t avoid difficult subjects. We focus on the progress, the recovery and the people making a difference.

What we don’t publish:

• Partisan victories. We celebrate progress, not political teams.
• Unverified viral stories. If we can’t trace a claim, photo or video to a credible source, we don’t publish it.
• Manufactured positivity. We don’t dress up bad news, exaggerate breakthroughs or present promises as achievements.
• Unsupported health claims. Medical and wellness claims must be backed by credible evidence, with sources readers can check.

Our goal isn’t to make everything sound positive. It’s to find the good that’s actually happening.

Sourcing and attribution

When we have a story’s origin on record, a box above the first paragraph names it with one of these labels:

• Reported by Joylet: original reporting based on our own research, interviews or verification.
• Summarized from: reporting by another publication, which we credit and link to.
• Republished with permission from: content shared under an agreement with its original publisher.
• A reader story, reviewed by our editors: a reader's submission, checked before publication.
• Partner-funded story: content supported by a paying partner, disclosed at the top.

When we list the sources we used, they appear at the end of the story, linked to the originals. Quotes taken from another publication are attributed where they appear.

Credit belongs to the people who did the work.

Evidence and verification

Good news should be believable news. When we have graded the evidence behind a story, the box at the top shows one of these labels:

• Official data: Information published by a government agency or other official body.
• Peer-reviewed study: Research published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Small trial or pilot: Early findings that show promise but need further testing.
• Pledge or announcement: A proposed action or commitment that has not yet been completed.
• First-hand report: Information provided directly by someone involved.

These labels describe where the evidence comes from, not a universal ranking of reliability. With or without a label, we keep what has happened apart from what is being tested and what is only planned.

Hope is worth sharing. So is knowing how much evidence supports it.

Headlines

Our headlines should make you want to read, not trick you into clicking.

• Every headline must be accurate and supported by the story.
• The main claim is explained near the beginning, not buried at the end.
• We don’t exaggerate, manufacture suspense or hide important context.
• We don’t use misleading questions or engagement bait.
• We never require readers to share a story to read it.

A good story doesn’t need a dishonest headline.

Images and video

We respect the people who create the photos and videos we share. Every one we use is:

• Original: created by Joylet or its contributors.
• Licensed: used under an appropriate licence.
• Used with permission: shared with the rights holder’s permission.
• Embedded: shown through the platform’s own player or post, so the creator keeps the view and the credit.

When we have the creator’s name, the caption credits them. Stock photos, illustrations and stand-in images carry the label “Illustration, not the people in this story”, so you know they don’t show the actual people or events.

We don’t take someone else’s photo or video and present it as our own. We never present AI-generated or manipulated visuals as authentic footage of real events.

People in our stories

Real people deserve more than a good headline. They deserve respect.

• When we report a story ourselves, we seek to contact the people involved.
• We handle personal experiences, disabilities, health information and other sensitive details with care.
• We seek appropriate consent before publishing private or sensitive information.
• Stories involving children receive extra safeguards, including a parent or guardian’s consent where appropriate.
• We leave out identifying details that could put someone at risk.

When we summarize reporting that is already public, we still weigh privacy, accuracy and potential harm.

If you’re featured in a Joylet story and something in it worries you, write to us at hello@joylet.com.

Reader stories

Some of the best stories come from the people who lived them. Anyone can share a story or nominate someone, but sending a story doesn’t mean it will be published.

• An editor reviews every submission.
• We check important facts and look for supporting evidence.
• We contact the people involved when needed.
• Stories involving children or sensitive personal information need appropriate safeguards and consent.
• Published submissions are labelled “A reader story, reviewed by our editors”.

Contributors can ask to be credited as “From a reader” rather than by name. We still collect contact details privately to check the story, and we never publish an email address. Our submission terms explain the conditions for sharing a story.

How we use AI

Technology can help us find and tell good stories. It cannot replace editorial responsibility.

• AI may help with research, organization and early drafts.
• A human editor reviews every story, checks its factual claims against the sources and approves publication.
• We don’t publish unverified claims generated by AI.
• We don’t present AI-generated images, audio or video as real documentation.
• Any AI-generated illustration in a story is clearly labelled.

AI can help us tell a story. It doesn’t get to decide what’s true.

How we follow stories

Good stories don’t always end when the headline fades.

We revisit a story when there is a meaningful development: a rescued animal finding a home, a community project reaching its goal, a person making progress.

• You can follow a single story and choose to get an email when we publish a verified update to it.
• You can send us new information. An editor reviews it and checks the facts before anything is published.
• We keep new developments apart from corrections, and we never send an update just to get clicks.

Corrections and updates

Accuracy matters, even when the news is positive.

When we make a factual mistake, we correct it and add a dated note to the story explaining what changed. The correction is also recorded in our correction history, newest first.

We keep these apart:

• Corrections: fixing inaccurate information.
• Updates: adding verified developments to an existing story.
• Minor edits: spelling, formatting and other changes that don’t affect the facts.
• Withdrawals: if a story can’t be put right, we take it down, and its address says when we withdrew it.

We don’t quietly rewrite important facts.

To report an error, email hello@joylet.com with the story link and what you think is wrong. Supporting sources always help.

We welcome corrections, because getting the story right matters more than appearing to be right.

View the correction history

Funding and independence

Joylet launches without advertising or sponsored stories. As we grow, our funding may change. Our editorial principles won’t.

• Nobody can pay for favorable coverage.
• Advertisers and sponsors cannot dictate our editorial conclusions.
• Any paid or sponsored content will be clearly identified.
• Commercial relationships will not be hidden from readers.
• If we introduce advertising or sponsorships, we’ll update these standards and our About page.

Our responsibility is to our readers and to the truth, not to anyone paying for attention.