Values & Editorial Standards
The Upbeat Daily · Last updated October 15, 2026
Our mission
The Upbeat Daily is a short, free morning email of true, uplifting stories about America and the American people. We want you to start your day knowing what is going right: neighbors helping neighbors, people of faith serving their towns, families pulling together, veterans and volunteers giving back, and hard work paying off. We write for every American, whatever your politics.
What we cover
- Real people and communities doing good: service, generosity, courage, craftsmanship, and grit
- Faith, family, hard work, service, and community, shown through real events
- National stories first, then regional and local ones, plus Americans making a difference abroad
- A short daily moment from American history
What we don't cover
- Partisan politics, elections, campaigns, or policy fights
- Outrage, culture-war bait, or stories built to make you angry at someone
- Crime, disasters, and tragedy (unless the story is truly about recovery or rescue, told with care)
- Rumors, viral claims we can't confirm, or "news" that is really an ad
Our nonpartisan pledge
We do not endorse candidates or parties, and we never cast politicians as heroes or villains. An elected official may appear only in a plainly nonpartisan role, such as presenting a medal or dedicating a bridge. We review our story mix every quarter (regions, communities, topics) to make sure we are serving all of America. Sponsored content, if we ever run it, will be clearly labeled and kept separate from our stories.
Sourcing and verification
- Every story must be supported by at least two independent sources, and three when we can. Independent means separate reporting, not two outlets repeating the same press release. If we can't confirm a story, we don't run it.
- Our written verification checklist covers names, ages, titles, places, numbers, and quotes, and AI tools help compare them against the sources.
- Headlines highlight the good without inventing facts or hiding important caveats.
- We keep a private verification log for every issue, so we can show our work.
Summaries, citations, and copyright
We curate stories and verify them under our written standards; the original reporters and outlets own their work. Each story gets a summary of 240 characters or fewer, written fresh in our own words. We do not copy ledes or paragraphs. Every summary names the source, shows the original headline only as a citation, and links to the original article so the outlet gets your visit. If you are a publisher or rights holder with a concern, email support@theupbeatdaily.com and we will respond promptly.
Images
- We use only public-domain/CC0 images or images we are clearly licensed to use, and we keep a log of each image's source and license.
- We never use news-outlet photos.
- Some images are AI-generated illustrations. Every one is labeled "AI-generated illustration," and they never depict the real people in our stories or pretend to show a real event.
- Every image has alt text for readers using screen readers.
How we use AI, and who is responsible
AI assists with research, drafting, and verification: it helps us find candidate stories, gather sources, draft summaries, and check details under our written standards, which require at least two independent sources for every story. Our publisher, Tyler Pack, sets these standards, makes the final decisions about what we publish, and holds himself responsible for the content.
When we get it wrong
We fix mistakes quickly and openly. See our Corrections Policy.
Questions or story tips? Email support@theupbeatdaily.com.