Editorial Policy

Kiwiblog is a personal blog, primarily reflecting my views.

However in recognition of the fact that it is now widely read and has some influence on the public discourse, Kiwiblog was a member of the Online Media Standards Authority since from 1 October 2014 to 31 December 2016 when it got subsumed by the NZ Press Council which we are now an associate member of. I try and follow the Press Council Principles.

This editorial policy is how I interpret the Principles as appropriate for a blog.

Accuracy

Kiwiblog will never publish anything the author knows to be untrue. If it does publish anything that is non-trivially factually inaccurate, it will correct it as soon as possible. The correction will generally be by way of strike-through on the incorrect text and bold on the new text so the changes are explicit. Alternatively updates may be done to a post, at the bottom of it.

Occasionally a post may be rewritten to reflect new information, when it is not desirable to keep the inaccurate original information in the post. However all versions of a post are archived.

Kiwiblog does not have the resources to double source all information it receives. It will sometimes publish information it receives from readers, if it deems the source credible.

Balance

Kiwiblog primarily reflects the views of its editor, David Farrar. However Kiwiblog is designed for debate and a balance of views can be achieved by contrary views being published in the comments section.

Kiwiblog is also generally amenable to running guest posts or a right of reply on a topic, even when those views do not reflect the editor’s.

However Kiwiblog will primarily be publishing stories that reflect the views of the editor on issues, and this will be the dominant view.

Kiwiblog also links to a number of other blogs, which promote a variety of different views on different issues. Kiwiblog believes that readers best achieve balance by reading different views on different sites, rather than one overall “balanced” view on all sites.

Fairness

Kiwiblog will link to quoted material (if available online), so that readers can easily follow through to see extracted material in its full context.

Kiwiblog generally allows a right of reply, both in comments or as a guest post – subject to overall editorial quality control.

Privacy

Kiwiblog has an internal privacy policy here. Kiwiblog asserts that as it makes observations on news, or current affairs, for the purposes of dissemination to the public or any section of the public, it is a news medium undertaking news activity and hence not an agency for the purposes of the Privacy Act.

In terms of publishing details of individuals, Kiwiblog will balance up the public interest against an individual’s desire for privacy. Whether such details are already in the public domain will be a key consideration.

Responsible Content

Kiwiblog will not glamorise criminal activity (especially hacking!).

It will not give detailed descriptions about a method of suicide. However it may report a suspected suicide as a suspected suicide, when it is obvious this has occurred, and it is important to the story.

Advertisements either clearly appear as graphical or text advertisements, in dedicated advertising spaces – or if in the main section of the blog, will be tagged with paid advertisement. Kiwiblog and its editor receive no payments for content, except advertising.

Children and Young People

Kiwiblog will generally not report on children or young people (under 18) unless it is for positive achievements, or they are taking part in newsworthy activities.

Comment and Fact

A blog is a mixture of news reporting and opinion. Blog readers understand this. It will generally be clear by use of quotes and extracts what is news, and what is opinion. Most posts are reflecting the opinion of the author, but some will be reporting original news.

Comments are also made by some blog readers. These are not moderated in advance by the editor and do not reflect the opinion of anyone but the person making them, and should not be seen as news. A comments policy applies to these.

Complaints against comments should be made to comments@kiwiblog.co.nz.

Headlines and Captions

The headlines on Kiwiblog are designed to either explain the substance of a story or make readers curious as to what a story is so they will read it.

Discrimination and Diversity

Kiwiblog agrees with the Press Council that issues of gender, religion, minority groups, sexual orientation, age, race, colour or physical or mental disability are legitimate subjects for discussion. Any coverage of these issues is based on public interest and is not gratuitous.

The one exception is comments on gingas. But a defence of humour is argued for these posts.

Confidentiality

Kiwiblog receives significant amounts of (generally unsolicited) information from sources. It will not name or reveal the sources, unless they agree. The exception will be if knowingly false information is provided.

Kiwiblog receives many unsolicited contributions from readers. Sometimes these will be quoted in a blog post. If the reader works for a political party, parliamentary party or an MP, then they will be described as such when quoting them. However their name will not be used.

Subterfuge

Kiwiblog does not use subterfuge or deceit to gain information.

Conflicts of Interests

Potential conflicts are disclosed here. Kiwiblog does not accept money for posts, unless they are marked as a paid advertisement. Posts reflect the views of the author.

Photographs and Graphics

Photographs are not digitally retouched by Kiwiblog, unless for humourous purposes in which case it will be apparent.

Corrections

See Accuracy

Authors

All posts made by David Farrar are my own work. I may sometimes seek information from various sources, but I always write my posts myself, and in my own words. I will quote words written by others, not use it as my own.

I have a few guest authors, with direct posting privileges. The guest author will either use their own name, a pseudonym which is publicly known to be them, or disclose any relevant political affiliations if not doing either of the first two.

I will sometimes publish comments or e-mails by readers as guest posts, or quote their e-mail in a post. They will not be named unless they wish to be, but if they work for a political party that will be identified.

Complaints

If a reader wishes to complain about a post, or seek an amendment, they should contact the editor at complaints@kiwiblog.co.nz. If it is urgent you can text or call to his mobile phone. Note that Kiwiblog does not have fulltime staff, and the timeliness of a response can be affected by the work demand or travel of the editor.

Kiwiblog is happy to correct posts that are inaccurate or breach the editorial policy or Press Council principles.

If you feel a blog post was unbalanced, then feel free to submit a guest post as a right of reply. Most guest post requests are accepted.

You can also use the comments facility to argue against the main post.

If you are unhappy with our response to your complaint, you can also complain to the Press Council.