Standards & Ethics

Last updated: August 1, 2026

Works which meet the “Bare Minimum Standards” are eligible to be published as “guest” contributions. Works which also meet the “Standards” are eligible to be published as “official” contributions.

Bare Minimum Standards

The bare minimum standards prohibit the following:

  • hate speech
  • harassment
  • doxxing
  • incitement of violence
  • scams
  • spam
  • excessive soliciting
  • excessive self-promotion
  • explicit content without both informative/educational value and adequate content warning/labeling

Standards

Contributors should adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics: https://www.spj.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf

Principles

In general, all contributions should follow these overarching principles, none less important than any other:

  • Usefulness & Beneficence
    • Journalistic work should have a factual basis, reporting on an action or event that has taken place. If in the public interest, opinions/perspectives/reactions/speculation can be included in response to the action, but should never form the basis for the work.
    • Journalistic reporting should be in the public interest and this should be weighed against potential harms caused by publication.
    • Subjects of any work should be given the opportunity to respond and provide their perspectives.
    • Journalistic work should follow a style which is accessible to as many members of the community as possible, including those who may not have a specific subject matter expertise.
    • Information in the public interest is that which informs or educates the public about actions or events which could have an impact on their life within the community.
  • Truthfulness, Accuracy, & Completeness
    • Factual statements (those reporting on an action or event) should have evidence from either an official/primary source or multiple corroborated sources, and care should be taken to specify which statements have strong factual backing as opposed to those which are opinions of certain individuals or groups.
    • Care should be taken to ensure that reporting does not misrepresent an action or event that has taken place and that information is conveyed in a clear and unambiguous manner.
    • Care should be taken to include as many perspectives of a situation as possible, to prevent providing a skewed report.
    • All work should be attributed accurately to the individuals, groups, or tools which contributed to them.
  • Relevance & Professionalism
    • Reporting should be timely and published in an appropriate manner for the situation.
    • Contributors should refrain from unprofessional speculation or commentary even outside of their official reporting.
  • Respect
    • Stay civil in all journalistic interactions.
    • Be considerate of those with less media experience and be transparent about the process.
    • Be considerate of community norms.

These principles were informed in part by the NPR Ethics Handbook: https://www.npr.org/series/688409791/npr-ethics-handbook