Ethics & Standards

American People Magazine is a publication of the Massachusetts Society of Journalism. Our journalism concerns itself with the lives of Americans — not politicians, not celebrities, not institutions, but the people who constitute the nation. That mandate carries a particular set of obligations, and we take them seriously.

Human Dignity

Every subject of our reporting is a human being who has consented to share their story. We do not reduce people to their circumstances. We do not treat vulnerability as spectacle. We do not publish accounts of suffering, struggle, or hardship without the informed consent of those whose experiences we describe. The people we profile are not sources to be extracted from and discarded. They are the reason this publication exists.

We treat the subjects of our journalism with the same regard we would expect for ourselves and our own families.

Truth in Human Interest Storytelling

The stories we publish are true. We verify facts. We confirm details. We do not composite characters, compress timelines, or invent dialogue. Where we reconstruct events, we say so and we identify the sources on which reconstruction is based. Where memory differs from record, we present both.

Human interest journalism has long tolerated embellishments that other forms of reporting would not permit. American People Magazine does not share that tolerance. The story of a real person is a factual document, not a literary exercise. We will not sacrifice accuracy in the service of narrative momentum. A story that requires invention is not a story we publish.

Respect for Profile Subjects

When we profile an individual, we enter into an implicit agreement. We will represent their words accurately. We will provide context for their circumstances. We will not use the intimacy of the interview process to extract material that the subject would not have shared had they understood how it would be used. If a subject requests review of factual claims attributed to them, we will accommodate that review. We will not grant approval over tone, framing, or editorial judgment, but we will not misrepresent the facts of a person's life.

After publication, we remain accountable. If a subject believes we have misrepresented them, they may contact us. If we have made an error, we correct it. If we disagree with their characterization of their own portrayal, we will explain our reporting and our editorial reasoning — openly, respectfully, and completely.

Independence

Our editorial decisions are not influenced by advertisers, political figures, government officials, or any outside interest. No source, subject, or stakeholder receives advance review or approval of our coverage. American People Magazine answers to its readers and to the people whose stories it tells.

Truth and Accuracy

We verify facts before publication. When we cannot independently verify a claim, we say so. We do not publish rumors, speculation, or unverified allegations as established fact. When we make errors, we correct them promptly and transparently.

Effective: April 2026