In adherence to the publication’s standards of ethical and professional reporting, TNP is disclosing its ethical policy as it proceeds with #BotongIsko2023, our coverage of the UP Diliman university and College of Mass Communication councils special elections.
Our ethical guidelines are sectioned into following categories: graphics, live tweets, photography, multimedia and about us. Please note that we lifted some of the guidelines from our last Botong Isko coverage as we will adhere to the same standards. You may find our guidelines below.
Graphics
How we represent data
As our coverage goes in-depth in the race for student council positions in the university and in various colleges, we follow the same template in posts representing various political parties. The colors we use in our infographics are taken directly from the colors of the political parties’ official Facebook pages. If the main color is difficult to read, we opt for the party’s color that is easier to read.
All our graphic output is clearly labeled with our coverage name to ensure delineation from our coverage of day-to-day output.
Live Tweets
Our livetweet coverage depends on the availability of staffers and editors. However, we strive to cover important debates and fora where candidates for the University Student Council and the College of Mass Communication student council are involved.
When live tweeting, we strive to give equal space for all political parties during debates or the miting de avance. All livetweet coverages are monitored by a TNP editor and a fact-checker, who will ensure accuracy and fairness at all times.
Photography
Our photography coverage depends on the availability of the staffers and editors. To maintain fairness, we aim to only cover events during the election campaign where all political and independent parties are present.
Multimedia
In accordance with our mandate to cover local issues, we will be conducting interviews for candidates running for positions within the College of Mass Communication.
These interviews will be compiled into a short question and answer video format.
The interviews would be done regardless of a candidate’s political affiliation. All candidates will be asked similar questions and must answer within a uniform time limit. This is to ensure fair and comprehensive coverage and to allow all candidates equal opportunity to share their platforms.
About us
To ensure that our publication is devoid of influence from political parties as much as possible, we have screened our staffers to determine potential conflicts of interest.
All staffers who are running for student council posts are required to file a leave of absence with TNP, including those who are members of political parties and groups that have expressed support for parties.
For full disclosure, TNP is a student publication of the UP College of Mass Communication (CMC). While it is based in the college, it is not recognized as CMC’s official student paper. As such, we rely only on donations from our staff, editors and alumni to operate. We do not accept donations from political parties as these may meddle with our editorial independence.
