Code of Ethics

1 – Seek Truth and Report It

We strive to be accurate, fair, honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information about humans, animals and the natural world. We prioritize original sources, present all sources in their correct contexts, and consider the motives and connections of these sources.

2 – Minimize Harm

We treat sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as beings deserving of respect. We increase transparency around the treatment of animals and environmental protection because we believe that human and non-human animals alike deserve to live lives free of needless pain, suffering and oppression.

3 – Act Independently

We serve the public by seeking to enlighten and provide valuable insights. By proxy, we serve our media partners, who in turn serve their audiences. We strive to provide our media partners with journalism of high quality and integrity, equal to that of our own reporting.

4 – Be Accountable and Transparent

We take responsibility for our work as journalists publishing news and investigative reporting. We welcome dissent and encourage collaboration.

Editorial independence

We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:

Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.

We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.

Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.

Corrections

Sentient strives to deliver factual, trustworthy journalism. We also recognize the importance of correcting our mistakes. When Sentient publishes an error, we will acknowledge it and take appropriate steps to correct it as quickly as possible.

Types of corrections:

• Correction: A correction that resolves a factual, spelling or grammatical error. Sentient will update said information in both the article and on social media, when relevant. Other than for typos, an explanation of the correction will also be added to the story.
• Clarification: Occasionally, we’ll need to add information to provide accurate context. In this case, we’ll issue a point of clarification and add it to the story, along with an explanation of what changed.
• Editor’s note: A correction that challenges the basic premise of the article or questions whether or not the article met our journalistic standards may require an editor’s note. The managing editor must approve the addition of an editor’s note to a story.
• Update: New information may become available after we publish an article. In that case, all new information will be added to the story in italics at the bottom of the page.

Readers who wish to alert editors to a possible correction can email [email protected] using the subject line, “Request for correction.”

All correction requests will be reviewed promptly by our editorial team.

Sources

Sentient treats its sources fairly. We value their contributions and know that without them, our work would not be possible.

Attribution

Sentient is committed to sharing the source of our information in a timely and truthful manner. All material received from a source must be clearly attributed to that source at the time of publication, including quotations, paraphrasing and other relevant information. When we cite material from other publications, those publications must be attributed appropriately.

Plagiarism is not permitted.

Anonymous sources

We protect our sources and understand that not all of them will be able to share their identities publicly. Some stories may include a source who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. In such instances, Sentient has complete knowledge of the unnamed person’s identity and of how that person is in a position to know the information.

Quoting experts

We depend on experts to make sense of the world around us, and the context they provide is essential to our journalism. However, we recognize that the world looks very different depending on where you are standing, and so we strive to incorporate the voices of experts from different disciplines, locations and socioeconomic backgrounds into our stories.

Quoting activists

We rely on activists and advocates to give our stories life. When we quote them, we clearly state any associations, both formal and informal, that they have to various causes, and rigorously fact-check their statements as we do with any other source.

Quoting industry representatives

Our journalists work tirelessly to hold the meat and dairy industries accountable. In doing so, they need to speak with representatives, farmers and financiers to fully understand what is happening. However, we recognize the industry’s affinity for misinformation and use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that what they are saying is true.