ABOUT SIGNPOST NEWS

Independent Journalism from Manipur. Reporting the Region. Questioning Power. Guiding Readers with Facts.

Signpost News is an independent digital news and opinion platform based in Manipur, with a primary focus on Manipur and Northeast India while following national and international developments that matter to our readers.

Our journalism is built around original reporting, verification, evidence-led analysis, independent opinion and public-interest storytelling.

We believe journalism should do more than tell readers what happened. It should ask why it happened, examine what those in authority say against what is happening on the ground, provide context that daily headlines often miss, and help readers understand what may come next.

In an information environment increasingly shaped by social media, instant commentary, misinformation and competing narratives, Signpost News seeks to remain simple in its purpose:

Find the facts. Ask the necessary questions. Give readers the context to decide for themselves.

MANIPUR AT THE CENTRE

Manipur is at the heart of Signpost News.

We report and analyse politics, governance, security, conflict and peace, civil society movements, education, culture, development and the issues affecting everyday life in the State.

But Manipur cannot be understood in isolation.

Its history, economy, security and future are closely connected with Northeast India, Myanmar, Southeast Asia and wider developments in India and beyond. Our journalism therefore begins with Manipur while looking outward whenever the story demands it.

This approach defines much of what Signpost News seeks to become: a credible Manipur-based newsroom capable of explaining the State to the world and the world to its readers in Manipur.

THE SIGNPOST VIEW

The Signpost View is our dedicated platform for editorial opinion and evidence-led analysis.

It examines questions of governance, conflict, peace, identity, demography, public policy, security, development and democratic accountability.

The Signpost View does not exist merely to take positions. It exists to ask questions.
When governments make promises, we ask what changed on the ground.
When political leaders make claims, we examine the available evidence.
When competing narratives emerge, we look for the facts beneath them.

When an issue affecting Manipur is discussed in New Delhi or elsewhere, we ask how the decision looks from the people and communities who will actually live with its consequences.

Opinion should be strong enough to question power, but responsible enough to distinguish evidence from assumption.

That is the principle behind The Signpost View.

NORTHEAST & BEYOND

Manipur’s future is inseparable from the wider Northeast and India’s eastern neighbourhood.

Northeast & Beyond follows consequential developments across the region and examines their connections with national policy, Southeast Asia, border affairs, connectivity, trade, security and geopolitics.

Our purpose is not simply to reproduce national stories for a regional audience. We look for the Northeast perspective within larger developments and the larger implications hidden inside seemingly local stories.

EXCLUSIVE & ORIGINAL REPORTING

Our Exclusive coverage is reserved for stories that deserve deeper reporting, original information or perspectives that may otherwise remain unheard.
Signpost News values journalism produced from the ground.
Press releases and official statements are sources of information, not substitutes for reporting. Where possible, we seek additional evidence, context and voices before presenting a story to our readers.
Speed matters in digital journalism.
Accuracy matters more.

CITIZEN NEWS

Important stories do not always begin inside a newsroom.
They may begin in a village, a neighbourhood, a college campus, a marketplace or on a road where no reporter happens to be present.
Through Citizen News, Signpost News provides readers with a way to submit news tips, photographs and videos from their communities.
Citizen submissions, however, are not automatically treated as published news.
Material submitted by readers is subject to editorial review and verification before publication. Signpost News may seek additional information, contact relevant parties or independently verify claims before deciding whether a submission should be published.
Citizen journalism can extend the eyes and ears of a newsroom.
Verification must remain the responsibility of the newsroom.

READER PARTICIPATION

Journalism should not become a one-way conversation.
Through polls, comments and other interactive features, Signpost News encourages readers to participate in discussions surrounding important public questions.
Our polls are intended to encourage engagement and understand the views of participating readers. They should not be interpreted as scientific opinion surveys unless specifically identified as such.
Reader participation can inform journalism, raise new questions and point reporters towards issues deserving greater attention.
But popularity cannot determine truth.
Facts remain facts regardless of how people vote in an online poll.

MORE THAN POLITICS

Our readers live lives extending far beyond politics and conflict.
Signpost News therefore also develops specialised coverage in Education, Artificial Intelligence, Money, Automobiles, Movies and Games, alongside its core public-affairs journalism.
Education remains particularly important in a region with a large young population and rapidly changing opportunities.
Artificial Intelligence is transforming journalism, education, employment and everyday life.
Money and consumer coverage can help readers make better-informed decisions.
Automobiles, entertainment and games reflect other interests of the contemporary digital audience.
These verticals allow Signpost News to broaden its journalism without losing sight of its central editorial identity.

OUR EDITORIAL PRINCIPLES

Manipur first, but never Manipur in isolation.
We begin from the realities of the State while recognising the regional, national and international forces shaping them.
Facts before conclusions.
Our reporting should be guided by verifiable information rather than political convenience, social-media narratives or assumptions.
News and opinion are different.
News reports should distinguish verified facts from allegations and claims. Opinion and analysis should be clearly identifiable as such.
Question power, regardless of who holds it.
Governments, political parties, institutions, organisations and influential individuals should all be open to legitimate journalistic scrutiny.
Give context, not merely information.
A statement tells readers what someone said. Journalism should also help readers understand why it matters.
Correct errors.
Journalism is produced by humans and errors can occur. When a material factual error is established, Signpost News believes it should be corrected transparently and promptly.
Verify citizen-generated material.
Photographs, videos and claims submitted by readers or obtained through social media require appropriate verification before being presented as established fact.
Technology assists journalism. Editors remain responsible for it.
Signpost News embraces digital tools, including Artificial Intelligence, where they can assist research, organisation, production and newsroom efficiency.
But technology does not replace editorial responsibility.
The final responsibility for what Signpost News publishes remains human.

INDEPENDENCE AND RESPONSIBILITY

Independence does not mean journalism without a point of view.
It means our conclusions should not be predetermined by political loyalty, pressure, popularity or the interests of those being reported upon.
We may criticise a government decision today and recognise a good decision tomorrow.
We may question an organisation whose broader objective we understand.
We may challenge narratives that are popular when the available evidence points elsewhere.
The responsibility of journalism is not to satisfy every side.
It is to remain answerable to facts and to the reader.

OUR MISSION

Signpost News seeks to build a modern, credible and independent digital newsroom rooted in Manipur.
We want to produce journalism that survives beyond the news cycle: reporting that documents events, analysis that explains them and opinion that asks questions worth asking.
We also want young readers to see journalism not simply as a stream of breaking headlines but as a means of understanding their society.
Our ambition is regional in origin but not limited by geography.
From Manipur to the Northeast.
From the Northeast to India.
And from Manipur to the wider world.

OUR PROMISE TO READERS

We will not always have every answer.
But we will continue asking questions.
We will distinguish reporting from opinion.
We will seek verification before amplification.
We will correct significant factual errors when they are established.
We will use new technology without surrendering human editorial judgement.
And above all, we will remember whom journalism ultimately serves:
The reader.

EDITORIAL & ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION

• Webmaster
• Yoihenba Mangang
• Email: yoihenbamangang@gmail.com

• Grievance Officer
• Wahengbam Rojen Meetei (+91-9774639481)
• Email: rojenn3@gmail.com

Signpostnews.com is registered with the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME). The UDYAM Registration Number is UDYAM-MN-05-0004599, Registered on 08 April 2021.