SALT LAKE CITY, July 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — standards launched Saturday, July 4 — the 250th anniversary of American independence — as a newspaper of record: free to read, neutral by methodology, independent by architecture, and built for the public.
Trust in U.S. mass media has fallen to 28 percent, the lowest Gallup has recorded in five decades of asking. There are more publications than ever, yet a shared, factual record any citizen can reach no longer exists. standards is being built to fill that role.
The commitments are structural. Reading is free: no paywall, no metering, no registration. Neutrality is a method, not an assertion. Independence is architecture: a binding Editorial Charter — published at launch in plain-language summary — is being adopted to govern the institution, with an Independent Editorial Board to audit its compliance. Readers don’t become the product in exchange: no tracking, no profiling, nothing about anyone for sale.
These are terms in a binding instrument, not lines in a mission statement. standards is being organized as a public benefit corporation, and its Charter is written to place editorial independence beyond the reach of any owner, advertiser, or funder.
Its stories are chosen, written, and signed by people. Most newsrooms now use AI somewhere in the pipeline; few tell readers, story by story, where. standards will: every story will disclose where AI and other technology were used.
“Today we take our turn,” said Brandon Wey, standards’ founder and chair of its board of directors, in a founder’s note published at launch. “The newspaper of record didn’t erode — it was replaced, faction by faction, until the shared public record was gone. We are building it back: free at the front door, neutral by method, independent by design. We would rather earn your trust slowly, in the open, than ask anyone to take it on faith.”
standards launched first as an institution and second as a newsroom, and says so plainly. What exists today is the foundation — the name, the Charter written to bind it, a board taking shape, the method above, and a free site at standards.com. The founding editorial team, led by an editor-in-chief, is being recruited now; reporting will begin, and grow, in the open.
“A record that reaches only the people who can pay for it is not a shared record,” said Mark Smith, standards’ interim chief executive. “Free access is the design, not a loss leader — and the Charter is built to guarantee it outlasts any of us.”
Readers can read the Editorial Charter summary and the founding white paper, and subscribe at no cost at standards.com.
About standards
standards is a newspaper of record: free at the point of access, neutral by methodology, independent by architecture, and built for the public — its readers are not the product, and its stories are chosen, written, and signed by people, with AI use disclosed. It is being organized as a public benefit corporation under a public Editorial Charter, with an Independent Editorial Board now being formed. standards launched on July 4, 2026, and is based in Salt Lake City.
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