Bristol24/7 editorial policy

Bristol24/7’s tradition of journalistic integrity and credibility
 is essential to its reputation as our city’s most trusted news source. This reputation 
is rooted in the conduct of the editorial staff. Unless all employees strive for the highest standards of journalistic integrity, we cannot hope to sustain the trust we have inspired in our readers.

At the heart of Bristol24/7’s journalism is telling stories from across Bristol. We are committed to sharing voices from all of our city’s communities, shining a light on people whose voices might not otherwise be heard in civic discourse.

JOURNALISTIC PRINCIPLES
The credibility of the content in Bristol24/7 on all platforms rests on solid research, clear, intelligent writing and maintaining a reputation for honesty, accuracy, objectivity and balance. To these ends, the following rules and principles apply:

Bristol24/7 will seek to provide reasonable accounts of competing views in any controversy so as to enable readers to make up their own minds.

It is unacceptable to invent or falsify a quote, source, anecdote, detail or anything else pertaining to the news.

News pictures must be real images captured by a camera, not created or altered. The rule is relaxed for feature illustrations, magazine illustrations and photographs, but careful judgment is required and notice should be given to readers.

In dealing with people who are emotionally vulnerable and unaccustomed to talking to reporters, Bristol24/7 will take care to respect their dignity and feelings.

In the usual circumstances of the job, Bristol24/7 reporters will identify themselves and make it clear they are working on stories. There are times when
it is best to remain unidentified, however. Reporters should advise the Editor in advance where possible if they do not plan to identify themselves and after the fact if not. Reporters must consult the Editor if there is doubt about the legitimacy of any proposed news-gathering tactic.

JOURNALISTIC PRACTICES
These practices apply to all sections of the newspaper and all digital platforms, to staff reporters and freelancers.

Quotation marks are the warranty that what is printed between them is what was said. Exceptions to this rule are few and relate chiefly to the difference between written and spoken language.

Writers may sometimes fix lapses in grammar or pronunciation of the ordinary sort that go unnoticed in conversation, but the changes must be minimal and carry no risk of altered meaning.

Hesitations, repetitions and false starts may be overlooked. This does not mean that quotes may be tightened or smoothed or otherwise recast for the writer’s convenience or any other reason.

Ellipses are to be used within quotations to indicate that words have been removed.

ATTRIBUTION
It is unacceptable to represent another person’s work as your own. Excerpts from other people’s prose must be attributed so as to avoid even a suspicion of copying. Although it is sometimes reasonable to adopt a few words without attribution (in a technical definition, for example), careful judgment is required. When in doubt, consult the Editor.

Any extensive unacknowledged use of another’s words, structure or ideas may constitute plagiarism. Exception: Background and technical information from previously published Bristol24/7 stories may be recycled, verbatim or otherwise, without credit, although you should not borrow someone’s distinctive prose style in doing so.

FACT CHECKING
Information from another publication must be checked or credited before it is used. This does not apply to material supplied by news services to which proper credit is given. When in doubt about information from any source, always double-check.

Although verified facts need no attribution, Bristol24/7 identifies sources of less-than-obviously-factual information in most circumstances.

In cases of leaked documents, we have an obligation to make every reasonable effort to confirm the veracity of the document.

ANONYMOUS SOURCES
In an ideal world, there would be no anonymous sources, but sometimes an important story cannot be obtained without protecting a source who risks retribution if identified. Reporters should strive to minimise the use of unattributed quotes, keeping in mind that the justification for omitting attribution is to get the fullest story possible, not to let people dodge accountability or take anonymous pot-shots.

Anonymity is granted not by an individual reporter, but by Bristol24/7 through the Editor. If granted, we must make clear to sources that anonymity may, on rare occasions, be compromised beyond our control due to external factors.

Quotes with names attached carry more weight, lend credibility to Bristol24/7 and increase public trust in the product. Direct quotes should not be attributed to anonymous sources but should be paraphrased and cannot include personal attacks. In rare circumstances a direct anonymous quote can be allowed with the approval of the Editor. Excessive use of anonymous quotes raises doubts in the public’s mind about our overall accuracy and credibility.

In routine matters, sources must be prepared to speak on the record, and should be pressed again if they refuse. When such efforts fail, reporters must decide whether to proceed with the interview. If they do, they must try, as much as circumstances permit, to reach a mutual understanding of such terms as “off the record,” “background” and “not for attribution,” and keep track of which elements of each conversation are subject to restrictions.

Reporters should be persistent in pressing sources to put information and quotes on the record.

The use of anonymous sources should be the last resort and subject to the following conditions:

• They convey important details or information that cannot be obtained for attribution elsewhere
• They are not used to voice opinions or make ad hominem or personal attacks

We must be diligent in describing sources as fully as possible. That includes: how the anonymous sources know what they know, why they are willing to provide the information, why we agreed to grant them anonymity and how they will be described in an article.

A senior editorial manager must be told the name and full details before an anonymous source can be used.

BALANCE AND DISCUSSIONS WITH SOURCES
In the interests of transparency and trust, reporters have a responsibility to extend a right of reply to the key subjects of their stories on the central aspects of the piece prior to publication. If those key subjects cannot be reached in a reasonable time, the article must explain what efforts were made to reach them.

On occasion, it may be permissible to ask one or more experts to review a draft. This applies primarily to complex scientific, medical, legal and financial matters. It does not mean Bristol24/7 will accede to any request from the subject of a story to read it in advance. Reporters may occasionally read quotes and other directly attributed material to the source for comment. This courtesy confers no right to dictate changes.

Bristol24/7 recognises that there are frequent and essential negotiations between journalists and their sources to track down information and obtain on-the-record quotations. There must, however, be clear boundaries to these discussions to ensure that sources are not dictating our journalistic content.

Bristol24/7 does not allow its journalists to send written copies of their stories or quotations to sources for approval or tweaking of content.

Care should be taken in telling outsiders when an article might run, especially when the knowledge might be of financial, commercial or political advantage. (This does not apply to editorial custom content reports for which schedules are published.)

No one may pass on information about confidential news plans or colleagues’ works in progress to anyone outside the newspaper.

CORRECTIONS AND OUR READERS
The integrity of Bristol24/7 — and the trust our readers place in us — is strengthened by a strong, clear and straightforward approach to how we acknowledge and correct mistakes. We strive for a culture of accuracy, and expect any staff member who finds an error in our published work to report it to the Editor.

All significant factual errors should be corrected in stories, graphics, headlines, captions, photographs and other elements that appear on our website and in our magazine. The aim is for consistency and transparency across the company through a process that lets us publish corrections as quickly as possible.

UNPUBLISHING
Bristol24/7 generally does not “unpublish” content or remove details such as names from our websites and archives other than for legal reasons, but it does correct and update articles as necessary if there is a significant factual error. Any decision to remove any content will be made by the Editor.

This is a summary of our editorial principles and practices. Bristol24/7 is a member of IMPRESS and we adhere to their Standards Code.

Last updated: September 1 2020