Ensuring Trust and Quality in Content | ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Editorial Standards

ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Editorial Standards & Values

ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ is on a mission to produce and distribute engaging data journalism to the world窶冱 news organizations. Since 2017, we窶况e combined data analysis, reporting, and research to tell stories made easily available to publishers and readers across the country.

Today, ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ is read by millions of people each month on ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ.com as well as across our vast network of publishing partners. Our newswire of local and national features provides a sustainable source of engaging content for thousands of newsrooms across the country, including MSN, Lee Enterprises, and Hearst Newspapers.

In addition to ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ's original stories, the ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ newswire consists of two other types of content that help to expand the newswire窶冱 breadth and depth and allow ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ to continue to provide the newswire to publishers for free. ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Studio works with select brands to underwrite the production of journalism that is produced entirely within the ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ newsroom and under strict editorial guidelines (see below). ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Connect distributes stories produced by brands, nonprofit newsrooms, and other publishers that have a demonstrated record of producing accurate, fair, and unbiased content. (Again, for more on the editorial standards publishers must meet for ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Connect, please see below.)

By lending our journalistic expertise to third parties, via ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Studio and ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Connect, we窶决e able to help brands reach new audiences while providing even more data-driven work to our publishing partners. Readers and publishers trust us to maintain the same high editorial standards that guide ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 original work 窶� rigor, accuracy, fairness 窶� for all Studio and Connect pieces. To do so, we maintain a strict set of editorial guidelines when working with clients.

Our Newsroom

ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 newsroom consists of journalists with a range of skill sets: Reporters, writers, data analysts, visual journalists, researchers, and more. Nearly every story starts with an in-depth examination of a public or private data set. But that窶冱 only the beginning. Data analysis forms the core of many of ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 story, but it窶冱 only one tool in our newsroom窶冱 toolbelt. We use reporting and research to both ask questions of the data 窶� ensuring it窶冱 accurate and unbiased 窶� and to give our stories humanity and bring them to life. Moreover, we use data visualization and photos to produce stories that are as engaging visually as they are intellectually.

Our Editorial Standards & Values

Editorial Standards

Accuracy 窶� All ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ stories must be based on evidence 窶� whether data, reporting, research, and/or first-hand experience 窶� and must interrogate that evidence for underlying biases.

Transparency 窶� ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ is committed to showing -- and sharing -- our work. Whether a story is based on data analysis, reporting, or research, our distribution partners and readers should always be able to easily understand where the information we窶决e giving them has come from.

Fairness and completeness 窶� ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ aims to tell stories that are not only accurate in a narrow sense but present as complete and fair a picture as possible. The goal is not to simply appear 窶徙bjective窶� or maintain ideological centrism.

Inclusivity 窶� ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 mission is to create the biggest, most accessible data-driven newswire on the planet. That means doing work that is relevant and accessible to a diverse audience.

Values

Create lasting impact for everyday people. We want to bring rigorous data journalism to the masses, and create work that brings value to our audience in their day-to-day lives. We focus on in-depth stories with a long shelf life and easy-to-digest, newsworthy articles.

Deliver local insights窶蚤t scale. We pick stories that resonate across our network of 1,000+ news organizations.

Commit to context. We combine data, photos, visualizations, reporting, and writing to tell stories that explain the world around us.

Build stories collaboratively. Our journalists have a diverse range of skills窶播ata analysis, reporting, research, graphics, design, writing, programming, statistics窶蚤nd work together to tell informative, original stories.

Develop tech-forward journalism. We leverage technology and operations expertise to allow our journalists to thrive.

ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Studio

Content tagged with ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Studio is produced in partnership with third parties.

What does that mean?

ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ partners with companies that underwrite news stories. All Studio content is created by ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 newsroom and must meet the same editorial standards that apply to every ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ story. ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 editorial team maintains the final say on every story we publish. Even when research is underwritten by a third party, ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ content will never advertise or promote products, services, or brands.

We promise full transparency. Every piece produced through ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Studio clearly communicates the underwriter and cites the original source data and research methodology in the article. We do not integrate promotional content into our pieces. The original version of each Studio piece is published on the site of the company that funds them, as well as on ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ.com, accompanied by the 窶慊鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Studio tag窶� at the top of the story.

This revenue stream allows us to produce even more unique journalism for news organizations and ensures we can continue offering our newswire to local newsrooms across the country at no cost.

Stories are made available to syndicate through ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ窶冱 Newswire and our onsite Republish button, with an Editor窶冱 Note at the bottom of the syndicated story identifying the underwriter. ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ retains full license to all content and retains a perpetual right to distribute and syndicate content to publishers across the country.

With this unique model, Studio clients have the opportunity to fund journalism that reaches local markets throughout the U.S., as well as the nation as a whole.

ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Connect Client Guidelines

Via ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Connect, ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ publishes vetted third-party content. ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ will work with only brands and publishers that meet the above Studio Standards and whose submitted content meets the following editorial standards:

Does not primarily serve to self-promote, generate sales or customer conversion, endorse and monetize goods and services (both their own or third-party), or editorialize.

Shows a clear record of publishing factually accurate content, and presenting a fair and complete-as-possible picture in published works.

Is being published for journalistic reasons AND/OR to establish general brand authority, not to put a particular spin on news or data.

Supports all factual claims with reporting, research, or another kind of evidence.

Submits only human-written and -edited stories for distribution; AI-generated stories, images and bylines are prohibited.

Clearly presents any opinions as opinions.

Refrains from using company employees or other people who have an affiliation with the brand as expert sources or authors.

Had a clear separation, in workflow and presentation, of editorial content from advertising content.

Abides by basic journalistic best practices: Always attributing information to the source it came from, fact-checking articles before publication, avoiding authorship of stories that present clear conflicts of interest, proactively correcting errors when they occur and documenting those corrections, etc.

Commits to full transparency for the use of data analysis (i.e. clearly and fully explains all methodologies underlying any analysis) and other presentations of information (i.e. it should be clear where the information came from).

More and more private companies are getting into publishing. Seeking general PR and brand authority, these companies are publishing content in their areas of expertise.

The goal of ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ Connect is to highlight the best work from the best of these publishers. By doing so, we can expand the ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ newswire with vetted content, and continue to empower local publishers by providing the ﾂ鮓ｹﾔｭｴｴ newswire at no cost.