The Daily Darwin Newsroom

The Daily Darwin is an independent daily news service for Darwin. This page explains how we produce journalism, who is accountable, and how we source and verify what we publish. For our full policy on AI use, see our editorial standards.

Built by locals, for locals

The Daily Darwin was founded by Shane Anderson, a long-time resident of Darwin who wanted a daily paper that took the city seriously again. The premise is simple: every Australian city deserves a daily news service edited from the place it covers, not parachuted in from a capital several time zones away.

Shane oversees the editorial policy, the source lists, and the guardrails that decide what can and cannot be published automatically. The masthead is small on purpose. The ambition is not. We want Darwin to wake up to a clear, sourced, locally-grounded account of what happened yesterday and what to watch today.

Built by locals, for locals — that is not a slogan. It is the operating constraint. Every story is written for someone who lives here, not someone scrolling past.

AI-assisted reporting

Most articles on this site are drafted with AI assistance. The system gathers publicly available information from trusted sources, identifies key facts, and writes articles in clear, Australian English. AI is a tool for speed, scale and consistency; it is not a replacement for editorial judgment.

Every AI-assisted article links the sources it used, so readers can see where each fact came from. We do not publish under fake bylines or pretend a person wrote an article when they did not. Bylines are attributed to the publication, not invented authors.

Editorial oversight

A human publisher sets the editorial policy, decides which sources are allowed, and defines the guardrails that control what the system can publish. Higher-risk stories, including those involving crime, courts, allegations against named people, or contested claims, are held for review rather than publishing automatically.

The publisher is accountable for what appears on the site, even when individual articles are produced by AI. That accountability sits at the masthead level, not behind an anonymous system.

Sourcing and verification

We build every story from named, publicly available sources. We link to those sources in the article, so readers can check the original material for themselves. We do not copy press releases verbatim or reproduce a single article; we synthesise and attribute.

For factual matters that change frequently, such as fees, opening hours, or government rules, we direct readers to the current official source. The live source is always the authority.

Corrections and feedback

We correct errors transparently. When an article changes, we add a visible note so the correction is on the record. If you believe something is wrong, or if you have a tip, please reach out via the about page.

Contact the newsroom

For corrections, tips and editorial enquiries, visit the about page.