CleanUp News Ethics and Standards
The Six Principles for the Conduct for CleanUp News
The first mission of CleanUp News is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained.
CleanUp News shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world.
As a disseminator of the news, CleanUp News shall observe the decencies that are obligatory as stewards of our Country and the environment.
The duty of CleanUp News is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its Board, Editors, Journalists or Authors.
In the pursuit of truth, CleanUp News shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such course be necessary for the public good.
CleanUp News shall not be the ally of any special interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.
Conflict of Interest
This news organization is pledged to avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflict of interest wherever and whenever possible. We have adopted stringent policies on these issues, conscious that they may be more restrictive than is customary in the nonprofit sector. In particular:
o We pay our own way.
o We accept no gifts from news sources.
o We accept no free trips.
o Free admissions to any event that is not free to the public are prohibited
o We neither seek nor accept preferential treatment that might be rendered because of the positions we hold. Exceptions to the no-gift rule are few and obvious — invitations to meals, for example, may be accepted when they are occasional and innocent but not when they are repeated and their purpose is deliberately calculating.
It is important that no honoraria be accepted that might in any way be interpreted as disguised gratuities. We make every reasonable effort to be free of obligation to news sources and to special interests. We must be wary of entanglement with those whose positions render them likely to be subjects of journalistic interest and examination. Our private behavior as well as our professional behavior must not bring discredit to our profession or to CleanUp News.
Fairness
Journalists and editors of CleanUp News are committed to fairness. While arguments about objectivity are endless, the concept of fairness is something that editors and reporters can easily understand and pursue. Fairness results from a few simple practices:
o No story is fair if it omits facts of major importance or significance. Fairness includes completeness.
o No story is fair if it includes essentially irrelevant information at the expense of significant facts. Fairness includes relevance.
o No story is fair if it consciously or unconsciously misleads or even deceives the reader. Fairness includes honesty–leveling with the reader.
o No story is fair if it covers individuals or organizations that have not been given the opportunity to address assertions or claims about them made by others. Fairness includes diligently seeking comment and taking that comment genuinely into account.
Opinion
The separation of news columns from the editorial pages is solemn and complete. This separation is intended to serve the reader, who is entitled to the facts in the news columns and to opinions on the editorial and “op-ed” pages. But nothing in this separation of functions is intended to eliminate from the news columns honest, in-depth reporting, or analysis or commentary when plainly labeled.
Verification and fact-checking standards
CleanUp News journalists and authors have primary responsibility for reporting, writing, and fact-checking their stories. Stories are subject to review by one or more editors. We have a multi-level structure for the review and editing of stories that may include fact-checking.
Diversity policy
Diversity is at the core of CleanUp News journalism. Accurately reporting stories from the United States and around the world means engaging a variety of voices as interviewees and first-person writers, striving for a staff that reflects a range of backgrounds and life experiences, and seeking feedback from all who would give it.
Corrections Policy
CleanUp News strives for a nimble, accurate and complete news report. We endeavor to be promptly responsive in correcting errors in material published on digital platforms and in print. When we run a correction, clarification or editor’s note, our goal is to tell readers, as clearly and quickly as possible, what was wrong and what is correct. Anyone should be able to understand how and why a mistake has been corrected.
Updating a digital report
Our individual pieces of journalism evolve as we sharpen and improve them. Our readers expect that from us in the digital age. It is necessary to use a correction, clarification or editor’s note to inform readers whenever we correct a significant mistake.
Corrections
If we are substantively correcting an article, photo caption, headline, graphic, video or other material, we should promptly publish a correction explaining the change.
Clarification
When our journalism is factually correct but the language we used to explain those facts is not as clear or detailed as it should be, the language should be rewritten and a clarification added to the story. A clarification can also be used to note that we initially failed to seek a comment or response that has since been added to the story or that new reporting has shifted our account of an event.
Editor’s Notes
A correction that calls into question the entire substance of an article, raises a significant ethical matter or addresses whether an article did not meet our standards, may require an Editor’s Note and be followed by an explanation of what is at issue.
Other Corrections Policies
o If we have sent out incorrect information in an alert, we should send out an alert informing people that the news reported in the earlier alert was wrong and give readers the accurate information.
o When we publish erroneous information on social networks, we should correct it on that platform.
o We do not attribute blame to individual reporters or editors (e.g. “because of a reporting error” or “because of an editing error”). But we may note that an error was the result of a production problem or because incorrect information came to us from a trusted source (wire services, individuals quoted, etc.)
Policies for CleanUp News have been adapted from The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/ask-the-post/wp/2016/01/01/policies-and-standards/
CleanUp News
National CleanUp Day / Clean Trails, Inc.
Steve Jewett, Publisher
Bill Willoughby, Publisher
Meghan Carney, Senior Editor
info@cleanupnews.org
720-985-8600