1️⃣Annexe I: Neutrality

Independence and Neutrality in Reporting, to Serve the Public

Independently free

Independence means we are free from outside pressures. No one can pull us to either side of the argument or make us pro-opinionated.

What does “pro” here mean? In this case, “pro” means:

News lets people understand.

Our goal is to help our audiences fully understand the issue, whether they like it or not.

Never pay for news.

As far as you can, use open - not closed - sources for your news materials.

News is not advertising.

Do not use anything that wants to be both.
If someone is paying us to feature an article they wrote, then label it as “sponsored content. " Do not feature or use it for main news stories.

Resist pressure to influence reporting.

People may want to bribe you to make them look good. Keep them away.
Reject special treatment (i.e. gifts, favours, fees, free travel etc).

Be Neutral at All Times

Being not neutral when we report is deeply unfair to debates. When we start reporting on a debate, we come to people arguing from their sides.

We must show what it is about, not solely how we feel. For example:

DON’T	DO
When we talk about what COVID-19 did to the fandom, it might also be good to think, “Does this affect furries’ livelihood?” Because of how serious this pandemic is in the world, it is of no doubt fandoms around, even the livelihood of some, may be adversely affected, be it financially or psychologically, which we will cover later on.	When we talk about what COVID-19 did to the fandom, it might also be good to think, “Does this affect furries’ livelihood?” Due to the severity of the pandemic, fandoms around may be adversely affected, be it financially or psychologically, which we will cover later on.
“How serious” says the pandemic is severe but is emotionally charged. It feels stronger than the word “severity.” “No doubt” assumes everyone feels and thinks the same. The term generalised one aspect over every single person. COVID-19 may not have impacted some people more than others. Avoid doing this - it is sensationalist. Yes, doing this gets you more views, but the cost is that people will only partially understand the issue.	“Severity” says the pandemic is severe. But it is not as emotionally charged as “how serious.” “May be adversely affected” implies that COVID-19 affected others badly. The phrase “may be” also implies that some people within are not affected as badly. This is more inclusive; not everyone has the same experience with COVID-19. Do this. Audiences can understand the issue and form their opinions for dialogue.

DON’T

When we talk about what COVID-19 did to the fandom, it might also be good to think, “Does this affect furries’ livelihood?”

Because of how serious this pandemic is in the world, it is of no doubt fandoms around, even the livelihood of some, may be adversely affected, be it financially or psychologically, which we will cover later on.

When we talk about what COVID-19 did to the fandom, it might also be good to think, “Does this affect furries’ livelihood?”

Due to the severity of the pandemic, fandoms around may be adversely affected, be it financially or psychologically, which we will cover later on.

“How serious” says the pandemic is severe but is emotionally charged. It feels stronger than the word “severity.”

“No doubt” assumes everyone feels and thinks the same. The term generalised one aspect over every single person. COVID-19 may not have impacted some people more than others.

Avoid doing this - it is sensationalist. Yes, doing this gets you more views, but the cost is that people will only partially understand the issue.

“Severity” says the pandemic is severe. But it is not as emotionally charged as “how serious.”

“May be adversely affected” implies that COVID-19 affected others badly. The phrase “may be” also implies that some people within are not affected as badly. This is more inclusive; not everyone has the same experience with COVID-19.

Do this. Audiences can understand the issue and form their opinions for dialogue.

To be neutral means we treat all sources fairly.

We balance perspectives to show what the debate is about. By doing this, we understand events better in full - not partially.

Show all facts.

Show all facts so that people can understand how something happened, for example, in chronological order.
If we can debunk or clarify certain items, draw links and offer comments.

Don’t be influenced by ourselves.

Show all sides involved in the issue.
Of course, we may betray our own beliefs and stances by doing that.
That is the point - we let both audiences and ourselves learn something.

Show a diversity of views.

When making a for-against comparison, try your best to give equal airtime to each side.
Prioritise perspectives based on how relevant, spotlighted and important they are.
On this, give everyone accused of misbehaviour a reasonable chance to respond.

How do we show diverse perspectives?

Showing diverse perspectives lets people better understand why different sides are doing different things.

There could be two or more ways to look at the topic in a debate.
Showing there indeed are multiple voices in the arena means we are showing diverse perspectives.
When we do this, others will try to force us to stand with them - resist them.

Next, we will demonstrate a few different ways to show diverse perspectives. Study them carefully - all examples are used for real in our news reports.

For vs. Against

This is a timeline snapshot from our 2021 coverage of the ‘furry Uber commercial’. We showed furries who ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ at the idea of mainstreaming furry fandom.

Storyline checkpoints

This is a timeline snapshot of our 2020 coverage of COVID-19 and virtual events.

We had different people answer questions along the way, highlighted in orange. They are related to the topic because they are event organisers; two within lead furry events.

One gave expert advice about holding an event. Two others did the same - in the furry context. As a base, we learn from here the nuances between furry and non-furry events. This is vital to understand the whole subject we touched on here.

Multipolar presentation

This is an infographic of our 2021 Don’t Hug Cacti controversy coverage.

We often switch between different perspectives to compare the information directly. Here, there were three perspectives: yes, no, and third opinions.

We showed all views beyond just the accuser and the accused.

What does ‘yes,’ ‘no’ and ‘third opinion’ mean here?

‘Yes’ are furries who agree that Lucky is at fault;
‘No’ are furries who disagree that Lucky is at fault;
‘Third opinion’ are furries who think other than the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ sides.

To cut short, doing this lets us meaningfully learn something from a topic.

Social media - notoriously Twitter - is the worst place to understand an issue.

Echo chambers are a big problem because algorithms show what people like to see, possibly blocking out perspectives that could matter to the conversation.

Our mission is to cut through that noise. Do not tell - but show the truth.

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Last updated 3 months ago