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Journalistic Standards and Practices

1. Independence and Trust

The Hub’s journalism will not be influenced or favour partisan political parties, businesses, special interest groups, donors, or advertisers.

Our news articles are objective, impartial, balanced, and fair, featuring a variety of voices so that our readers can make up their own minds. In an effort to push back against a media industry that has increasingly strayed away from, and even criticized, objectivity in its reporting, The Hub views objectivity as a core tenant of journalism.

Hub journalists will not advocate for a particular issue, instead checking their biases at the door of the newsroom. We draw a clear distinction between our opinion commentary and original news content and label each section clearly to avoid confusion. We also do not make a habit of featuring our commentary contributors as regular sources in our news articles.

Sponsored content (which we treat as separate from news and commentary) must meet our editorial standards for accuracy and transparency. It must be created by Hub staff. Sponsored content created by third parties is not published in The Hub. Sponsored content will also be clearly marked at the end of articles in the descriptions of podcasts, as well as on social media.

2. Accuracy

The Hub publishes content that is original and factually accurate. Each article undergoes a rigorous fact-checking process. If an error is realized following publication, it is to be corrected immediately and publicly. Corrections or retractions will be clearly marked at the bottom of articles beneath an italicised “Editor’s Note” heading.

Plagiarism, fabrication, or libel by our writers will not be tolerated. Story images will not be manipulated. Data will not be cherry-picked to suit a particular narrative. Information used from another publication is to be credited. In serious and rare cases where articles are inaccurate, the Managing Editor will make the decision to remove the content from the site. That decision will also be made public.

While we do on occasion make use of machine learning in the production of some Hub content (e.g. Hub Headlines podcast, cartoons and article summaries) our policy is not to use these technologies in our news articles, commentary and long form journalism, other than for research purposes.

3. Ethics

In order to protect the integrity of their work, Hub journalists will not cover issues where they have or could be perceived as having significant personal interests in; whether this involves a familial or financial connection.

Hub journalists will not work or volunteer for, be members of, or donate to political parties or advocacy groups. They will not engage in demonstrations or campaigns. They will not receive gifts or favours for their coverage, nor will they use their position to seek special benefits. Hub staff will behave in a tasteful and non-offensive manner online, interacting respectfully with our readers and the public.

In some cases, the potential conflict of interests of writers may be noted within the body of pieces, in author biographies, or at the end of pieces in italics.

4. Civility

The Hub is a place for civil and substantive conversations around ideas and public policy, in an effort to contribute to a healthy Canadian democracy. While we will act as a forum for bold and often provocative views and vigorous debate, we will not engage in feeding bigotry, gross exaggeration, harassment, or conspiracy theories.

5. Transparency

The Hub encourages our readers and other members of the public to share their feedback about our work (including complaints or reporting potential errors). They can do so by emailing editorial@thehub.ca.

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