EnviroNews Editorial Policy: Rules, Hard-Stances, Codified Viewpoints and Commitment to Journalistic Excellence

The following represents the editorial viewpoints of EnviroNews as well as any and all underlying bureaus, divisions, arms and affiliates. All EnviroNews editors shall pledge to uphold these positions to the best of their ability and in good faith.

Rules of Conduct for EnviroNews Editors, Journalists, Reporters and Producers

1. News — Not Politics Charading as News: Unlike many of the nation’s prominent news organizations, EnviroNews shall endorse no political candidates, and shall instead stick to covering political campaigns — not influencing them with opinion. EnviroNews shall fact-check and hold politicians on all sides of the aisle to account; never shall EnviroNews endorse a politician — local, national or otherwise.

2. Headline Policy: While journalists do share responsibility for the content in their stories, the higher accountability falls on the story editors; the ultimate accountability on the EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. Reporters however, shall share no accountability whatsoever for headlines. The EnviroNews editorial team ultimately decide on and/or compose all EnviroNews story headlines. Reporters may make headline suggestions to their story editor, but The Editors ultimately pick the headline and shall assume responsibility for it.

3. Vetting: EnviroNews shall always make a good faith effort to thoroughly vet company reporters. EnviroNews will always strive to hire, contract and employ credible, professional, un-biased journalists who are unaffiliated with political organizations, environmental groups, activist organizations, or other special interest groups. In the rare event an EnviroNews reporter is, or has been affiliated with, companies or organizations connected to an EnviroNews story, the reporter shall disclose, or recuse themself fully from that story — or from stories of that subject matter entirely. Editors are responsible for knowing and disclosing any potential conflicts of interest.

4. Deputization of News Personnel: The EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief and his/her Deputy Editor reserve the right to “deputize” investigative reporters, journalists, news writers, producers and video-journalists on a temporary, or story-by-story basis. In the case of reporters, journalists, writers or anyone who will be credited with authorship or included in a byline, appropriate vetting shall occur. In the case of video-journalists and audio-recorders however, the Editor-in-Chief shall have tremendous leeway and maintain the permission to deputize nearly any person to record audio or video-tape an event.  All deputized persons shall be listed on the news piece in the “credits” section.

5. News Biography and Credentials: All EnviroNews journalists and writers shall submit a headshot photo and journalistic bio prior to being published on an EnviroNews byline. This reinforces journalistic accountability. The Editorial Board shall rework the bio provided for EnviroNews purposes and publish on the website along with the writer’s first report.

6. Of Permanent Record: All reports and stories published on the EnviroNews website are considered permanent record and public domain. The credits of the authors who compose and write them are also considered permanent and shall not be removed except under the rare circumstances of an official story retraction. In over twelve years of bold reporting, EnviroNews is yet to issue a retraction. A retraction must be official, and must occur with an official statement from The Editors, the Editor-in-Chief and/or the President of News.

7. Accountability: EnviroNews upholds strict journalistic standards and never allows authors to go by “pen names” or aliases. A rare exception to this may occur only when an established public figure, known by a “stage name,” authors a piece for the company. EnviroNews editors support our reporters 100 percent, and we always stand behind them and their reporting.

8. Email: All EnviroNews reporters, editors, producers and research assistants shall conduct all EnviroNews business and correspondence on official in-house EnviroNews emails. The use of personal emails when working on a story, communicating with an editor, or corresponding with an interview subject, is not permitted. All EnviroNews reporters, even if “freelancing” or temporarily deputized, shall be given access to an official EnviroNews email account baring their name before work on the story begins. All EnviroNews email accounts are constructed in a uniform fashion: first name, last name, @EnviroNews.TV. If the reporter’s name is Sue Smith, the email shall be: [email protected].

9. Whistleblowers: EnviroNews reporters, journalists and producers shall not disclose the identity of anonymous whistleblowers or correspondents at any time, under any circumstances, whatsoever. By authoring a first story at EnviroNews, the reporter/journalist/producer agrees to uphold these bedrock principals — even in the face of imprisonment or prosecution. EnviroNews agrees to stand by and support its journalists should this extremely rare, yet precarious position arise. EnviroNews has a spotless reputation regarding the protection of anonymous whistleblowers — even when pressured by government agencies or law enforcement to reveal their identities. By authoring a first report for EnviroNews, reporters agree to never reveal with identity of whistleblowers without the whistleblower and EnviroNews‘ permission. When dealing with anonymous whistleblowers, it is recommended (with the permission of the whistleblower), that the reporter’s story editor, and/or the Editor-in-Chief, also be made aware of the whistleblower’s identity, testimony, data and resources. In the event this is not possible, publishing of the story will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and will take into consideration the reporter’s track record in handling whistleblowers and sensitive sources. EnviroNews pledges to stand behind its journalists and their journalism in the event of any persecution. EnviroNews shall also participate with legal expenses and lobby the involvement of protective journalistic societies in the event of any persecution, infringement of First Amendment Rights or other undue attacks on any of our journalists.

10. “Sources and Methods”: By authoring a report for EnviroNews reporters agree to not disclose any proprietary news gathering or production techniques, exclusive to EnviroNews, to non-essential personnel or people outside the company. Reports also agree to not reveal information about any EnviroNews correspondent or news source to non-essential personnel.

11. Interviews: EnviroNews reporters are expected to conduct interviews in a professional manner and through a “front-door” approach. When conducting phone, video-call, or in-person interviews, reporters are required to capture audio/video recordings of the event and to provide those to their story editor and/or managing editor for source verification and validation. When conducting email interviews, reporters should always CC or BCC their story editor.

12. On-the-Record/Off-the-Record: EnviroNews reporters should identify themselves as members of the press whenever possible — especially when they are on duty and actively pursuing a story. Exceptions exist for investigative reporters who are undercover. Unless an off-the-record “timeout” is called, anyone speaking with an EnviroNews reporter should understand that anything they say should be considered on-the-record as “fair game” and could be recorded or quoted in a story. However, EnviroNews reporters agree that while all conversations with officials and members of the public are on-the-record unless otherwise agreed, conversations with other EnviroNews personnel shall be considered off-the-record unless otherwise noted and agreed upon by the Company.

EnviroNews’ Hard-Stances and Editorial Viewpoints

1. The vast majority of available science and reporting clearly demonstrates man-made or, anthropogenic climate change is not only real, but happening now and far faster than early models projected. Climate change from excess greenhouse gas releases is not a belief-system, it is elementary science. Blatant climate denialism and climate misinformation shall not be accepted by any EnviroNews editor, nor met without challenge when encountered by EnviroNews reporters, editors, and producers in broadcast format.

2. Uranium is relatively safe when sequestered in the Earth, but dangerous and hard to keep safe when mined and liberated.

3. Most small children are taught they must: clean up their current mess before they can play with more toys. The same standard should apply to the nuclear industry. Nuclear waste is a pervasive, mounting, and unsolved problem that threatens all life on Earth. At America’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation alone, there exists, “trillions and trillions of lethal doses of radiation” — and those remain leaking, leeching, and escaping from their storage tanks. The nuclear industry must clean up its mess entirely before it is given more chances to bring uranium to the surface, fission more atoms, and make more profit.

4. The U.S. Government should adhere to the Geneva Convention and cease the use of depleted uranium (du) munitions at home, and primarily abroad and in the Middle East. This poisons local residents, unborn children, U.S. soldiers, and frankly, the entire planet. The U.S. must deal with its own nuclear waste and not dump it in the backyards of other countries, in violation of treaties, in the form of DU munitions.

5. Planet Earth is currently experiencing what has been referred to by many as the “sixth mass extinction.” This mass die-off of Earth’s wildlife is human-caused and has been verified by countless scientific papers, investigative reports, and research projects. If more is not done to counteract the primary extinction culprits including: habitat fragmentation and degradation, agriculture, pollution, poaching, and over-hunting — population numbers, and whole species will continue to perish.

6. More to come soon.  Stay tuned…