There isn’t a single universal rulebook for sports or photojournalism editing. Each publisher or wire service sets its own ethics and post-processing policy, and the rules can vary by outlet and by category such as hard news, features, or sports.

Some organizations do publish guidelines publicly. The Associated Press is a commonly cited example, and its policy is often summarized as: do not add, remove, or obscure image content. In general, only minimal edits are acceptable for accurate reproduction, such as cropping, dodging/burning, grayscale conversion, normal color/tonal correction, and cleanup of sensor dust or scan scratches.

The key principle is accuracy: editing should not change the factual content of the scene. If an edit alters meaning, adds/removes elements, or hides identities, it is usually considered unacceptable in straight editorial work.

For a broader overview, standard photojournalism textbooks and journalism ethics resources are a good starting point, since they explain common industry principles even though outlet-specific rules still control.