News Waker is a media company that provides objective, fair, and accurate news. Our guiding philosophy is liberal on society and liberal on the economy. We aim to reflect and foster the openness of public discourse and set a benchmark for quality and integrity.
Ethics Policy
Our Ethics Policy guides and mandates the conduct expected of every News Waker employee. All employees, including non-editorial ones, commit to avoiding anything violating this code’s principles. This document is a binding commitment for all News Waker employees and is periodically updated and reviewed to keep up with the changing media landscape and news generation and consumption.
Conflict of Interest
We ensure that our content is uncompromised by conflicts of interest. News Waker employees cannot sign public petitions or donate money to political parties or groups supporting political causes. Any connections with the government, business, or civil society groups must be avoided or reported to supervisors. We maintain rigid walls between ourselves and the subjects we cover and avoid active involvement in partisan causes. Affiliations, memberships, or endorsements that could damage our credibility must be reported to the editors.
External Engagements
All freelance assignments must have the supervisors’ approval. Writing for another publication must only be done with permission, and the writer must be identified as part of the News Waker group. Accepting speaking engagements at conferences and seminars must be cleared with the Editor.
Advertisers
Advertisers or marketing concerns will not influence our news, analysis, or opinion. Advertisements will be marked and easily distinguishable from news content. Sponsored editorial features will be labelled differently from editorial content.
Conduct
We maintain ethical standards in our conduct. People must not accept expensive gifts in positions, people, or institutions we cover. Invitations to ticketed events must be declined unless the purpose is to protect the event or if the seat is in the press gallery. The material provided to News Waker employees during work belongs to the organization and must not be resold. We must not accept preferential treatment because we are media group employees.
Financial Disclosures
News Waker employees must not buy or sell shares using information accessed by the organization before publication. Any shares bought must be held for at least one year, and employees must disclose their total shareholding every six months to the supervisors. Employees who cover business and financial matters must disclose their financial holdings and investments to the Editor-in-Chief to avoid potential conflicts.
Attribution
Sources must be identified whenever possible, and if a citation is not named, we will provide a close description of the person to disclose possible prejudice. News Waker will also give a reason for not revealing the identity of sources. Pseudonyms must not be used, and our identity, motives, and methods must be disclosed.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is prohibited. Content from other media sources must be attributed, and images must not be digitally altered without disclosure.
External Links
News Waker employees cannot be affiliated with or receive payment from external organizations or individuals that could compromise our independence or credibility. We are committed to upholding these ethical standards and ensuring our content is trustworthy, transparent, and of the highest quality.
