Editorial Standards

Overview
Vision
Editorial integrity
One set of standards

About This Document

Oversight and Decision-Making

Editorial Principles
Multiple platforms
Editorial independence
Accuracy
Fairness
Transparency
Accountability

Overview

We use the power of media for public good. We strengthen the civic fabric of Southern California, share our distinctive perspective with the rest of the nation, and provide our community with an essential connection to a wider world. We create, curate, and distribute content and experiences that open people’s minds, lift spirits, and connect people to each other and the world. We are creating a new public media model that is multi-platform, diversified, modern and built around high-quality content with distinctive brands.

Vision

PBS SoCal aims to lead public media innovation through transformative storytelling, services, and brands. The core of this vision is to focus and amplify the “California Voice” within public media and PBS to better serve diverse local and national audiences well into the future.

Editorial integrity

The public’s trust in our organization, content, services, and relationships is fundamental to achieving our mission. We earn the public’s trust in multiple ways, including:

• The quality and excellence of our work
• Showing we understand community needs, issues, and interests
• The inclusion and reflection of the diversity of our communities
• Ensuring our editorial process is free from undue influence
• A commitment to defined professional standards and practices
• Avoiding “off the clock” activities that undermine our credibility
• Being accessible, accountable, and transparent to those who use our services and to the community as a whole.

An important part of our commitment to integrity and trustworthiness is carried out through our standard editorial review process across all of our platforms. PBS SoCal management also must ensure that our stations conform with all applicable laws, including rules issued by the Federal Communications Commission for noncommercial educational broadcast licenses. To these ends, different parts of our current operation developed and adhered to a variety of policy statements and internal and external editorial guidelines. These Editorial Guidelines should be the final word on our PBS SoCal editorial practices and process. They are informed by other editorial resources (such as the PBS Producer’s Handbook) that are in use and helpful throughout our organization.

One set of standards

Our standards apply to all of the content we produce and present, regardless of subject matter, including news, science, history, information and cultural content. Our standards also apply across all the channels and platforms we use — broadcasting, online, social media, print, and in-person events. All staff involved in the creation of our editorial content must adhere to these standards. We bring our standards into editorial partnerships and collaborations through which we expand our capacity to serve, add to the perspectives we share with our audiences, and enhance the timeliness and relevance of our work. Contractors, freelancers and external producers must also uphold our standards while working for us.

This document should be included in our written agreements with outside vendors involved in editorial production. They should be aware that even outside of such contract work, their actions or words, such as written comments online, could affect their future relationship with PBS SoCal.

This handbook doesn’t cover every possible situation but sets out processes for addressing questions and issues that arise. We recognize that our digital media environment often requires immediate decisions on how to cover and distribute content. We also recognize that our producers need creative freedom to tell stories that are engaging, informative and innovative in a world with almost endless content choices. We believe that editorial decision-making can be done more efficiently and creatively when editorial standards and practices are clear and familiar.

About This Document

• We have made these Editorial Guidelines publicly available online because we are accountable to our viewers, funders and our community and we want to be transparent about our standards.
• For those working for PBS SoCal, these Editorial Guidelines provide the principles and framework for our editorial approach and practices, and are supplemental to the Employee Handbook.
• References to producers apply as well to reporters or others with day-to-day editorial responsibility. References to managers may include senior management, executive producers or any senior producer entrusted to hire and supervise staff or contractors. The term “program” is used to mean all editorial content regardless of platform, including television segments and episodes, documentaries, digital audio and video, digital articles, social media posts and live events.
• We gratefully acknowledge the current and past employees of PBS SoCal, KCET and PBS and the other broadcast and news industry organizations whose contributions to prior policy statements and handbooks gave us valuable source material and in some cases language we adopted verbatim.
• PBS SoCal reserves the right to revise, modify, delete or add to any and all policies and procedures in this handbook. Anyone at PBS SoCal who has questions or suggestions should discuss them with their supervisor or manager. Members of the public may use the general contact information posted on the Contact Us pages of our websites. Letters and emails may be addressed to the Chief Creative Officer with the subject line, “Editorial Guidelines.”

Oversight and Decision-Making

Day-to-day editorial and programming decisions for all of our brands and platforms are the responsibility of trained editorial professionals, who are overseen by our management leadership team. The Board of Directors provides oversight, support and insight that help ensure our leadership team is successful in its duties and responsibilities. In addition, PBS SoCal has a Community Advisory Board of volunteers. Their function, as mandated by Congress in 1979, is to advise the governing body of PBS SoCal with respect to whether the programming and other policies are meeting the special educational and cultural needs of the various communities served by the station. Board members may have considerable familiarity with our content and may have expertise to share, but they can neither be involved in nor dictate day-to-day editorial decision-making. Managers should welcome advice from the Board and consider it along with their staff’s opinions before making independent editorial and programming decisions. The Board of Directors provides oversight to hold management accountable for their editorial decisions and adherence to the guidelines but has no say on the editorial content itself.

In lieu of a separate standards and practices office, the leadership team is responsible for answering questions and making decisions about compliance with the policies outlined in this Editorial Handbook. Senior executives and department heads should provide guidance and exercise oversight in their respective areas—content and programming, finance and administration, legal affairs, fundraising and marketing. The leadership team is obligated to protect the reputation of our brands and platforms, and the public trust placed in us. Whenever anyone working for us encounters a particular editorial decision or breach in policy that may have a significant public impact or could potentially result in material harm to PBS SoCal, it must be reported to management. Members of the leadership team should promptly consult with each other and report to the Board of Directors about all such instances.

Day to day application and enforcement of editorial standards is the responsibility of the executive producers, department heads or other managers who hire employees, freelancers or contractors, or who engage in collaborations or partnerships to create content. Managers must convey these standards to staff and contractors, who must sign off on their acceptance of this handbook’s guidelines. Staff and contractors are responsible for upholding these standards not only in performing their own tasks but also by keeping management informed of any potential breaches.

Any complaint from a staffer, contractor, viewer, funder or source about our editorial standards and practices—or any substantive correction in our content—must be reported to management in writing, with a copy directed to the General Counsel. The report must either relate how the complaint was promptly reviewed and resolved or there must be a follow-up report explaining the resolution. The same process applies in any case in which managers disagree among themselves about how to apply the standards and practices in this handbook, so that the president and CEO can make a final decision, in consultation with our Board of Directors and/or Community Advisory Board.

Editorial Principles

Multiple platforms

We create programs across multiple channels and platforms, so our practices vary while conforming to one set of standards. News producers and social media managers must adhere to specific policies. But the editorial principles below apply across broadcasting, online, social media, print, and in-person events, regardless of subject matter. The principles incorporate the PBS Editorial Standards & Practices adopted in June 2018. As noted in that document: Given that platforms differ in terms of format, tone, voice, and audience expectations, the interpretation and application of these core principles will necessarily consider those factors.

Examples:

• A documentary may have a point of view on its subject, unlike a news report, but should be transparent with its audience about why it is focused on a particular opinion and how it chose its sources.
• The principle of accuracy cannot be applied the same way to a historical drama as to a public affairs report.
• Science and natural history program producers have the same obligation as those producing journalism to provide accurate, credible information and examine contrary views.
• A show about children learning to play orchestral music does not require balancing comment from opponents, of course. Audiences for arts and culture programs expect any criticism to be based in appreciation of the genre.
• A social media post may promote a show by offering a funny outtake or behind-the-scenes image that is different from the show’s formal promotional material on the website.

Editorial Independence

Editorial independence is essential to serving the public interest and preserving the public’s trust. Content distributed by us must be free of undue influence from outside forces. We must remain unwavering in our commitment to distributing content that exemplifies ethical and journalistic integrity rather than advancing commercial interests. This obligation is achieved through the good-faith professional judgment of our staff and contractors and by carefully listening to the public. Editorial independence gives producers the intellectual freedom to achieve the other principles below.

“Undue influence” refers to intentionally coercive behavior undertaken by any source ­— including governmental agencies, private corporations, funders, audience members, news or content sources, powerful individuals, or special interest groups — that seeks to influence or interfere with the accurate, impartial, professional creation of content.

PBS SoCal’s Board of Directors and the Community Advisory Board should be especially sensitive to the issue of editorial independence when sharing their expertise and advice regarding programming. They can offer opinions but cannot dictate editorial decisions. It is the responsibility of senior management to decide when and how input from board members reaches line producers.

Accuracy

Accuracy means honesty, fidelity to facts, and humility on the part of producers and our staff to question their own assumptions about the subjects they are handling. Accuracy includes more than simply verifying whether information is correct; facts must be placed in sufficient context based on the nature of the piece to ensure that the public is not misled. For example, facts can lack necessary context if they are presented in a way that omits important details, quotes someone without correctly reflecting what the person was asked, or distorts what occurred. Producers must also be mindful of the language used to frame the facts to avoid deceiving or misleading the audience or encouraging false inferences. A commitment to accuracy also requires gathering, updating, and promptly correcting information as a story develops. Producers must exercise the highest level of care in verifying information, especially when it relates to any accusations of wrongdoing.

Fairness

Producers must consider all relevant facts and perspectives on a particular subject and present information in a respectful and responsible manner — without favoritism or discrimination. Fairness does not require that equal time be given to conflicting opinions or viewpoints. Fairness does, however, require producers to be open-minded when evaluating the merits and assessing the credibility of all opinions or viewpoints while also managing their own personal opinions and biases. One purpose of fairness is for audiences to appreciate and learn from content, even if they disagree with its conclusions. Fairness also requires that producers carefully represent the words and actions of individuals they interview or otherwise cover. Producers must never manipulate the views of those individuals in an effort to cast them in stereotypical roles or to support predetermined perspectives. Instead, producers must be mindful of the culture, history, and social customs of those individuals when presenting their views. Producers must give those they cover the opportunity to present their strongest case, while always providing appropriate context to the audience, and producers must give those who are the subject of criticism a reasonable opportunity to respond.

Transparency

Transparency is the principle that content should be produced in a way that allows the audience to evaluate the credibility of the work and determine for themselves whether it is trustworthy. Producers must be open with the audience — to the extent practical — about how the work was done. Being transparent is the proof, in effect, that the editorial principles outlined in these standards are living principles that inform a professional and ethical editorial process — not simply words on a page. While specific methods may vary by circumstance and platform, transparency means respecting that the audience is entitled to understand significant underlying editorial decisions. If producers arrive at a certain conclusion or a point of view, the audience should be able to evaluate how that conclusion or view was reached. Producers who face difficult editorial decisions should consider explaining why certain choices were made; if relevant questions cannot be answered, producers should endeavor to explain why. Sources must be clearly identified, and, in those rare instances when confidential sources need to be used, producers must explain the decision to allow anonymity. Transparency also means using labels or other disclosures when presenting information that might be unclear or confusing to the audience. Finally, transparency requires that producers disclose to the audience all sources of funding for the production and distribution of content.

Inclusiveness

PBS SoCal strives to contribute to informed debate by presenting, over time, content that addresses a broad range of ideas, information, and perspectives. Inclusiveness means that content should reflect the views of people from different backgrounds, such as geographic areas, ethnicities, genders, age groups, religious beliefs, political viewpoints, sexual orientation and income levels. Where appropriate, we may condition acceptance of outside content from freelancers or collaborative partners on the producer’s willingness to further the goal of inclusivity by including viewpoints from which the public might draw a range of different conclusions. For instance, we may request that supplemental material be added, such as a new segment, an additional episode in a series of programs, or links to credible, high-quality, related resources that provide access to additional information with diverse viewpoints.

Accountability

Producers and staff must remain accountable and responsive to the audience and take direction from our management. Accountability requires producers to stand by their work and to be prepared and willing to respond to relevant inquiries about it, including through active and thoughtful digital engagement with the audience. Accountability also means that producers must adhere to the highest professional standards of conduct and diligently pursue and report the truth. Conflicts of interest must be avoided, and any real or perceived conflicts that could have the appearance of influencing content must be disclosed to our management.

Producers must correct errors, in close consultation with managers, as soon as they determine that errors occurred. Producers must also work closely with managers to respond in a timely manner, and to the best of their abilities, to questions or criticisms from the public about significant editorial decisions or ethical issues related to content. Anyone learning of such concerns should report them to the executive producer or to whichever manager is accountable for bringing up issues in that program for legal review. Employees, managers, contractors and freelancers should follow the same rule: When in doubt about applicable editorial standards, staff will consult with the person they report to.

As noted previously in the Oversight and Decision-Making section of this handbook, senior executives and department heads should provide guidance and exercise oversight in their respective areas—content and programming, finance and administration, legal affairs, fundraising. Our senior management, not our Board of Directors, is accountable for our editorial practices.