REPORT AFRIQUE
Ethics Policy
SCOPE AND PURPOSE
Report Afrique is an independent media organisation and aims to preserve its editorial independence in relation to all aspects of its content. This Ethics Policy is intended to maintain and protect Report Afrique’ independence, impartiality, neutrality and integrity and applies to all members of Report Afrique.
COMPLIANCE
Report Afrique considers this policy is of very high importance and takes any breaches of the policy very seriously. All Report Afrique team members are expected to read this policy carefully and abide by all rules contained within it. The policy applies to the conduct of all current Report Afrique team members and new members are also required to read this policy prior to commencing their role at Report Afrique. Report Afrique team members will be required to confirm they have read this policy once each calendar year.
Any team member that has a question or has become aware of their own possible violation of this policy or a violation by any other team member, or becomes aware that they or another team member is involved in any relationship or situation that could reasonably give rise to an actual or apparent conflict of interest must contact their supervisor immediately. Any and all such discussion will be kept discreet and private and every effort will be made to maintain such discretion and privacy. Report Afrique will not tolerate any retaliation against any team member who makes a good faith report about a possible violation of this policy by another team member.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST - Personal Gain and Promotion
All team members who regularly cover news (including, but not limited to, cultural, social, political, opinion and travel stories) must report stories with integrity and impartiality and must not be influenced by any personal or professional gain that they may achieve from a third party by reporting any fact or story in any particular way.
It is unacceptable for any team members to accept money or anything else of value for promotion of a particular story or links, particularly if the relationship is not disclosed. There are certain circumstances where this will not apply. For example, we may be given travel expenses, accommodation, food or other benefits for covering a story. Any such instances where we may benefit in any way – regardless of how small or large – from covering a story will be disclosed clearly in the article.
If a team member receives any gift or freebie for attending an event, covering a story or otherwise in relation to their work, they must make it clear that such gift/freebie will in no way compromise or influence their judgement or coverage of a particular topic, event or story.
MARKETING ACTIVITIES
Only team members responsible for Report Afrique’ marketing and advertising are allowed to conduct deals with third parties and any such deals will be made with the aim of preserving and maintaining Report Afrique’ editorial independence, impartiality, neutrality and integrity.
POLITICAL AND CIVIC SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT
Report Afrique does not dissuade or prevent its team members from participating actively in any civic, religious, charitable, public, social or any other related organisations. Such activity is permitted and encouraged but must not violate this Ethics Policy, detract from effectiveness or performance of team members’ work, influence their neutrality or integrity, or falsely misrepresent Report Afrique or their association with Report Afrique. In addition to this, all editorial team members responsible for the publication of news or political stories on Report Afrique must maintain care when exhibiting any political bias on their social networking pages while associated with Report Afrique.
ASSOCIATION WITH REPORT AFRIQUE
Report Afrique team members must not associate themselves with Report Afrique other than for as long as they are actually associated with Report Afrique. Once this association has ended, team members must not purport to act for, or represent Report Afrique.
SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES
Report Afrique’ team members must maintain strong judgment, professionalism and understanding of privacy when posting on social media.
Unlike personal social media networks, posting on Report Afrique’ social media networks is a responsibility that must be taken seriously. Report Afrique has a large number of followers across the world and all posts must be considered seriously before being posted. Most people will react to the photo/video, headline and caption on a social media post and therefore it is important that such content is not misleading, deceptive or misrepresents the story at hand.
Importantly, while a team member may perceive something in a certain way, they must consider how it will be perceived by the wider public. Perception is key and good judgement and analysis of how a story will be perceived is important.
All social media posts must not misrepresent Report Afrique’ independence, neutrality and integrity. This includes comments made in any comments sections or replies on social media networks. It is important to avoid disrespectful, violent, inciteful, insulting or other negative comments.
When posting any images or videos which appear on our website and social media, gaining permission from the original creator or author is essential. This is both out of respect for the original creator/author and to ensure compliance with copyright and trademark laws.
PLAGIARISM
Report Afrique has a strong policy against plagiarism. Team members must exercise good judgement when using another source for a story and must properly cite the original source. Any plagiarism will be taken seriously.
REPORT CONCERNS
If you have any concerns or questions in relation to any of these policies, please contact [email protected].
