‘BISHOP MONKTON TODAY’ GUIDELINES

The objective of the ‘Bishop Monkton Today’ website is to provide a timely and reliable source of news and information about the village for the benefit of residents and visitors.

PRINCIPLES

The website will endeavour to operate in line with the following principles –

• Accuracy – we will check our facts and only publish what we believe to be true.
• Fairness – we will present both sides of a story where relevant.
• Relevance – we will concentrate on things we believe matter to the village.
• Timeliness – we will make sure we publish news as quickly as we can.
• Impartiality – we will not take sides on matters where there are reasonably held differences of opinion within the village and we will not editorialise.
• Independence – we will be completely independent of all organisations and interest groups in the village e.g. Parish Council, Village Hall, BMAG and others. The Village Hall Committee funds the costs of the website but it will have no role in the editorial decision-making of the site.
• Community – we are committed to celebrating the great things about our village and its people but we will not shy away from dealing with difficult and controversial topics where we believe the public intertest is served by reporting them.
• Legal/policy - we will of course operate in line with the law of the land and normal editorial principles followed by responsible media outlets including the laws relating to libel, contempt of court, privacy, data protection and equality.
• Privacy – we will not publish pictures of identifiable individuals taken in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy without their permission and we will never publish pictures of children without the express permission of their parents, guardians or others in loco parentis.
• Copyright - we will make our best endeavours to establish that the copyright holder of any pictures we publish has given their permission for us to use their images.
• Discrimination – we will avoid language which may be perceived as discriminatory or which might suggest a stereotypical portrayal of people based on their gender, skin colour, age or other characteristics protected by law.
• Commercial – we will not provide space for the advertising of commercial businesses nor will we be a forum for people to buy and sell items. We will however provide information about important local services and amenities even where they are private businesses.
• Corrections – If we make a mistake in something we publish, we will correct it in a timely fashion.
• Right of Reply – We will offer the opportunity for people to comment on articles published on the website although we reserve the right to refuse publication of material we consider illegal or unsuitable.
• Editor’s decision and responsibility – the Editor, or his/her nominated deputy, will take the final decision on what is published on the site.