As a news organization, it is our job to be as fair and objective as possible, as accurate and truthful as possible, to be accountable to our community, and to be ethical in our dealings with sources and events. All posted articles will be reviewed by at least one editor before publication. Reporters are expected to discuss with editors before doing anything that may break one of these guidelines.
Fair and Objective:
- We try to get “both sides” of stories whenever possible
- We try to understand the root of situations, and explain them to our readers
- We do not ambush potential interviewees, though we may interview people at events without scheduling those interviews in advance
- We take great pains to determine whether anonymous sources should be used, and if so, how.
- We attempt to fact check all information before publication
Accurate and Truthful:
- We tell the facts to the best of our ability
- When we utilize opinion, we make sure that’s clear
- We respond to questions about our reporting quickly and truthfully
- We utilize photos and quotes to better explain the story, and do not use them to change the meaning or to mislead
Accountable:
- We tell our audience where our information comes from whenever possible
- We tell our audience the truth
- We tell our audience who wrote a given article
- We tell our sources who we are and what we’re doing
- We take care to consider the priviledge of our positions, and the potential harms to our sources, depending on their race, disability status, gender or gender expression, sexuality, and other identifying information
- We identify conflicts of interest and sources of bias whenever possible
- If corrections are required, we publish them clearly and in a timely fashion
Ethical:
- As best we can, we acknowledge potential conflicts of interest
- We may obfuscate obscene words or gestures, but other than that, we do not change recorded documentation
- We do not invade the privacy of those we are interviewing
- We use legal names only with the permission of those we are interviewing. Psuedonyms are common in our community, and we do not out people without their permission.
- We do not plagiarize
