Supermajority News Standards and Policies
By Supermajority News
- Accuracy and Fairness: A story is fair when it is complete in its scope — when all facts of importance, relevance, and significance are included. A story must give individuals and/or organizations about whom claims are made in the article the opportunity to comment on these claims and to sincerely take that comment into account in the context of the published piece. Statements of fact must be both correct and situated in a fair context.
- Sources: Sources should have firsthand or direct knowledge of the information on which they are being quoted. We treat sources fairly by taking measures such as putting their quotes in context and giving sources adequate time to respond to requests for comment.
- Confidential sources/Anonymous quotes: We will grant confidentiality to sources only in situations in which disclosing their identities could result in harm to either their livelihood or safety — for example, undocumented individuals. Editors must know the identity of unnamed sources.
- Plagiarism: Plagiarism, defined as copying and pasting another reporter’s work without crediting them or otherwise passing off another’s original work as their own, will not be tolerated.
- Attribution: When aggregating, we attribute all information that we did not source firsthand to its original source. We must attribute all original research or other studies to their authors and institutions.
- Corrections: We will publish a correction if it is a substantive, factual change to the article’s content, a photo caption, headline, embedded graphic or video, or any other material explaining the change, as soon as is possible after learning of the error.
- Opinion vs. News: Opinion pieces will be clearly labeled as such. Published articles that are not labeled opinion will be based solely on facts and fair in their scope.
- Code of conduct: We expect all employees and contractors of Supermajority News to treat everyone with whom they come into contact — from co-workers to sources — with respect. Harassment and/or discrimination will not be tolerated, nor will any behavior deemed demeaning or disorderly. If employees engage in this behavior, Supermajority News maintains the right to take action it deems appropriate.
- Diversity in reporting and coverage: Accurate reporting requires engaging with the diversity of voices both included in the story at hand, and that reflects Supermajority News’ readership. Supermajority News is committed to engaging these voices both in terms of reporters themselves as well as the interviewees quoted in their work.
- Activism: As a progressive organization, we recognize that there are not two sides to issues related to civil and human rights, including women’s rights, anti-racism, and LGBTQ+ equality. That said, Supermajority News reporters will still be expected to put facts and news first, and avoid editorializing, in reporting on these topics and all others.