This page explains how Weltmeldung protects children in our journalism. If you are worried about how we have covered a minor, or wish to flag a story involving a child, you are in the right place. Please read the sections below; they outline our principles, the extra review steps we take, and how to raise a concern. You can also jump to the complaints procedure if you need to make a formal report.
Why does Weltmeldung have a dedicated policy for minors?
Because children deserve heightened protection in news coverage. Their welfare, privacy, and dignity must come before any editorial interest. This policy ensures every story involving a person under 18 receives a second, specialist review before publication.
We follow the principle that a child’s best interests override the public’s right to know, unless a compelling public-interest reason exists. Our team, led by Chefredaktör Benjamin Albrecht and Standards Lead Vanessa Peters, applies this rule consistently. The policy is part of our broader Editorial Policy and is embedded in our daily newsroom workflow.
What kind of content involving children needs extra scrutiny?
Any article, image, video, or social-media post that identifies or features a minor under 18 – whether as a subject, source, witness, or in a photograph – must go through an additional review by Vanessa Peters, our head of fact-checking and standards.
This includes interviews with children, stories about schools, youth movements, family life, and court cases involving minors. We also apply the same care to content where a child appears incidentally, such as background images from public events. In every case we ask: can we tell this story without naming or showing the child? If not, we require explicit consent from a parent or guardian – and a clear public-interest justification from the reporting editor.
- Interviews with minors: never conducted without a parent or guardian present and informed consent.
- Images of children: faces are blurred unless full consent is given and the child is not at risk.
- Court and police reports: we avoid naming juvenile defendants or victims, even if names are publicly available.
Our Fact-Checking Policy and Our Team page provide further detail on the people who enforce these standards.
How this works in practice
Imagine our Politikredaktör Felix Pohl writes about a local youth climate protest. The story includes a photograph of several teenagers holding signs. Before publication, the image is reviewed by Vanessa Peters. She checks whether any child is identifiable, whether the teenagers are old enough to give meaningful consent (most are 14 or older), and whether the signs contain personal information. In this case, the editor decides to keep the image but blur faces of children under 16 and remove any sign that shows a school name. The final article carries a note explaining that faces have been anonymised for child protection.
This example shows the kind of practical decision-making that happens every day at Weltmeldung. The rule is always: ask, document, and if in doubt, take the safer route.
Who owns and oversees this policy?
Weltmeldung is owned and operated by Weltmeldung Media Ltd., a private company registered in Gibraltar (company number C 92009, Malta Business Registry). The safeguarding policy is set by the editorial leadership: Chefredaktör Benjamin Albrecht and Redaktionschef Stefanie Otto. Day-to-day enforcement is led by Vanessa Peters, whose role as Ansvarig för faktagranskning includes reviewing all content involving minors. The policy is reviewed annually and whenever a relevant incident occurs. Our full ownership and funding structure is disclosed on the Ownership & Funding page.
How to contact us with a safeguarding concern
If you believe a Weltmeldung article or image has put a child at risk, or if you are a parent or guardian with a question about how your child was mentioned, please email complaints@weltmeldung.de. You can also write to our editorial team directly: editorial@weltmeldung.de or call +46 8 525 030 61 for urgent concerns.
We take every report seriously. Your email will be acknowledged within 48 hours, and a full review – involving Vanessa Peters and the relevant editor – will begin. If a mistake is found, we will correct the article promptly and publish a correction notice. For our formal complaints process, see the Complaints Procedure page.
In short
Weltmeldung places the safety and dignity of children at the heart of our reporting. Every piece of content involving a minor receives a human-led, additional review by our Standards Lead. If you have any concern, we want to hear it – please contact us at complaints@weltmeldung.de.