At HR Forum News, our primary objective is to have an editorial that sets unequalled standards for our journalists to follow as they provide the best news and information possible in the service of our readers and the general public.
We are a privately held company with a newsroom dedicated to
providing a fair depiction of Africa in the media while maintaining our
independence from funding or influence from the government.
Here are our editorial policies and ethics as we work towards
journalism that is performed ethically. Please be aware that we often revise
our policies in order to best serve our readers.
Ethics Policy
1. Being Factual
Although we cannot always ensure that
our audience will get the absolute truth, we always place a high priority on
providing truthful information. This is thus our guiding philosophy.
Every link should, in our opinion, be
chosen editorially, and the public should always get reliable information. We
think that every narrative has several perspectives or iterations, and that
reporting should reflect that.
2. Being Independent
Our independence is extremely crucial
to us since we are a private media company. We strive to speak with an
independent voice while also abstaining from acting publicly or informally on
favour of particular interests, whether they be political, business, or
cultural.
3. Reporting Impartiality
& Fairly
Our approach acknowledges the existence
of several sides to every story. It may not be necessary to provide every
viewpoint in every story we publish. We do, however, feel that every time we
tell a story, it must be balanced. As a consequence, we work hard to always
deliver articles in an unbiased and objective manner in order to earn readers'
respect and confidence.
4. Humanity
We never intend to hurt anybody.
While some readers may find our writings offensive on occasion, we never want
to hurt anybody. To avoid hurting our readers, we teach our journalists to be
careful with their choice of language and supporting visuals.
5. Accountability
We hold ourselves to the greatest level
possible for journalists, and we are always willing to take responsibility.
Although we may make mistakes, you can be confident that we will always fix
them. We must be honest in our statements of remorse when we apologise and
refrain from being in any way cynical.
6. Transparency
We should be honest and tell our
audience whether we are associated with any political party since we have
nothing to hide. We should also disclose any financial arrangements or other
personal information that could create a conflict of interest.
7. Freedom of Expression
We'll always be willing to give our
audience a voice on our platform (comments, opinions, polls, rejoinders, etc.). When
an inaccuracy is of major consequence or when it is reasonably required, we
think we should provide people and organisations with a fair and timely chance
to respond. We should constantly provide solutions to unjust problems.
8. We say NO to Plagiarism
We reject plagiarism because we think
that other people's work ought to be recognised and credited. Our journalists
should not engage in practises like copying, pasting, and using images,
graphics, and videos without providing credit.
9.
We eschew sensational headlines and news
We
are a development-oriented news portal, publishing only news stories of
importance (news relating to the development concerns of Ghana, Africa and the
World i.e stories that impact the general livelihood of the citizenry).
Sensational news stories or sensationalism (News stories designed to mislead,
create controversy and to gain audience attention at the expense of accuracy and
professionalism) have no place on our web space.
10. Comments, Facts and Propaganda
Our journalists should constantly stand
up for our convictions. By making divisive remarks or manipulating the truth,
we will not serve as propagandists. It is forbidden to offer speculation as
truth.
Technical
Policy
News headings or titles must have at least 30 characters and at most 60 characters. This is to prevent news headings or titles from being truncated so as the full length of the titles appear in search results or any other platforms the stories shall appear on. News titles or headings should accurately reflect content of news stories and not a figment of one’s imagination.
Diversity Policy
The guiding philosophy for our
journalists is that stories should reflect the different beliefs, perspectives,
and daily lives of the people who make up our communities. Stereotyping—against
people based on their colour, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, location, or
sexual orientation—must be eliminated. Gender identity issues, disability issues, physical
appearance issues, and social status issues are all covered.
Bylines Policy
Journalists
and reporters for HR Forum News are allowed to put their names to the bylines
of stories as writers. The business will sometimes only permit the use of the
website name in order to defend journalists against legal challenges. To
provide journalists the freedom to work and express themselves
freely, Bylines are often used to identify authors and partner websites.
Actionable Feedback Policy
We've made it a priority to respond to
user comments right away. You may contact us at hrforumonline@gmail.com with
any questions, comments, complaints, compliments, or recommendations, and we'll
get back to you as soon as we can.
Corrections Policy
We understand that errors do occur
sometimes. Because of this, we are always prepared to fix any errors in any of
our articles and to acknowledge them when they occur.
Any changes to a narrative, title, or
image should be italicised and marked at the top of the piece. To offer our
reputation a huge boost, we are determined to keep this standard procedure.
Our journalists will put
"UPDATED" before the headline of an article if it has been
significantly updated.
Unnamed Sources Policy
Regardless of whether they are revealed
or not, we must cite all of our sources. To boost their trustworthiness, we
think they should be expressed explicitly in articles.
Additionally, captions and citations for any images included in articles
should be cited.
Verification/ Fact Checking
Policy
Our editors and journalists are tasked
with ensuring the accuracy of the material that is generated by doing fact
checking. Journalists and editors should draw attention to at least three
trustworthy sources throughout the process.
While we encourage our authors to
create material from their perspective, we also push them to cite reliable
sources in order to bolster the veracity of their assertion.
Verified accounts and those of
well-known people and organisations are the best choices for sources when journalists
choose to utilise social media. We acknowledge that accounts may be hacked,
thus information obtained through social media accounts should be carefully
examined and given careful thought before being used.
Sponsored Content
Every publication that includes
sponsored advertisements as editorial material must carry the word
"SPONSORED" before the headline. The sole exception to this rule is
when a press release is published. Our journalists are permitted to publish editorial
information, only after receiving permission from the editor.
