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Editorial Guidelines
We abide by the Australian Press Council Statements of Principles as outlined below.
Accuracy and clarity
1. Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.
2. Provide a correction or other adequate remedial action if published material is significantly inaccurate or misleading.
Fairness and balance
3. Ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance, and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.
4. Ensure that where material refers adversely to a person, a fair opportunity is given for subsequent publication of a reply if that is reasonably necessary to address a possible breach of General Principle 3.
Privacy and avoidance of harm
5. Avoid intruding on a person’s reasonable expectations of privacy, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
6. Avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
Integrity and transparency
7. Avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
8. Ensure that conflicts of interests are avoided or adequately disclosed, and that they do not influence published material.
How to make a complaint
If you have a complaint about something you have read on the Pulse Hobart website or social media feeds, please contact us in writing at [email protected].
Comments made via social media or text messages are not considered written complaints.
Handling complaints about the work that we produce is very important to us. It keeps us accountable and helps us to continually improve our offering.
Effective complaints handling lets us acknowledge problems if, and when, they occur, and remain a trusted source of information.
Our complaints handling procedures are shared with all staff and they are required to be familiar with them.
Our response to complaints aims to be proportionate, professional and timely and focus on resolving any matters in a respectful way.
Prompt acknowledgement
We are a locally owned, independent publisher of community interest journalism.
Not every complaint needs an elaborate response but every complaint needs to be acknowledged. Some complaints will simply be because a reader wants to be heard or present a counter argument.
We will apply a ‘common-sense’ approach to proportionate complaints handling – sometimes this will be no more than an automated response acknowledging it has been received, other times it may be a detailed engagement.
Assessment
We will assess the complaint against the editorial guidelines.
If required, we will refer the matter for an independent review.
If it is apparent that our guidelines have been breached we will address the complainants feedback either via return correspondence or a printed correction, depending on the complaint.
Further Action
If you feel our response is not satisfactory, you can refer your complaint to the Australian Press Council at www.presscouncil.org.au/complaints-form/