StreetBuzz is a real-time, local & interactive news platform where journalists publish news dedicated to their district or town. Students and organizations use this platform for publishing newsletters & magazines for their institutions. To classify their published work as news, they need to abide by the following principles. Your compliance to these principles make StreetBuzz users trust the news published by you.
Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but it can and must pursue it in a practical sense. This “journalistic truth” is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods, so audiences can make their own assessment of the information. Accuracy is the foundation upon which everything else is built: context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate.
Independence is an uncompromising requirement of journalism, a key pillar for reliability. StreetBuzz believes that Independence of spirit and mind, and not neutrality, is the principle journalists must keep in focus. In our independence, however, we must avoid any tendency to stray into arrogance, elitism, isolation or nihilism.
Journalism must serve as watchdog over those whose power and position affect citizens and communities. We believe this to be an effective tool against despotism when they ensured an independent press; courts have affirmed it; citizens rely on it. As journalists, we have an obligation to protect this watchdog freedom.
The news media are the common channels of public discussion. This discussion serves society best when it is informed by facts rather than prejudice and supposition. It should strive to fairly represent the varied viewpoints and interests in society, and to place them in context rather than highlight only the conflicting fringes of debate. Accuracy and truthfulness require that as framers of the public discussion we not neglect the points of common ground where problem solving occurs.
Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It must balance what readers know they want with what they cannot anticipate but need. In short, it must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant. The effectiveness of a piece of journalism is measured both by how much a work engages its audience and enlightens it. This means journalists must continually ask what information has most value to citizens and in what form.
We believe that keeping news in proportion and not leaving important things out are cornerstones of truthfulness. Inflating events for sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative make journalistic work less reliable. Hence include news of all our communities, not just those with attractive demographics. We believe that proportion and comprehensiveness are subjective, yet their elusiveness does not lessen their significance.
Every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility–a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if fairness and accuracy require, to voice differences with our colleagues. StreetBuzz nurtures this independence by encouraging individuals to speak their minds. This stimulates the intellectual diversity necessary to understand and accurately cover an increasingly diverse society. Diversity of minds and voices, not just numbers, that matter.