Ethics Policy

THE SENIOR SOUP ETHICS POLICY

The Senior Soup is a nonpartisan, independent media outlet that provides informative, compelling, and accurate content and media geared toward the senior community and their families.

Co-founders Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner abide by strict guidelines by the Society of Professional Journalists.

ACCURACY AND ATTRIBUTION

• From time to time, The Senior Soup and The Senior Soup Podcast may offer their readers fact-based reporting on senior services, local, state, and federal legislation, and other news related to our aging adult population.
• Our reporting featured throughout our digital assets – The Senior Soup Podcast, The Senior Soup blog, resource directory, social media pages, and digital newsletters – will always be truthful, transparent, and respectful.
• Our facts will be accurate, complete, and fairly presented.
• Any analysis we provide will always represent our best independent judgment, not our preferences or sources.
• The Senior Soup co-founders Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner have no hidden agendas in their media endeavors.
• If The Senior Soup makes a mistake in its reporting, The Senior Soup co-founders will work quickly to address the error, correcting it within the story and noting that a mistake was made.
• The Senior Soup will also make needed corrections in its social media.
• Suppose a reader discovers an error on one of The Senior Soup’s digital assets. In that case, readers are encouraged to contact Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner by email, as listed on the website’s contact page.
• The Senior Soup will not republish stories, images, or other content from outside sources without permission and credit.
• Fabrication, plagiarism, or misappropriation are not tolerated.
• Any information taken from other published or broadcast sources should include credit and a link within the body of a story or, where appropriate, on related visual journalism such as photos, video, or graphical elements. There may be times when a link alone will suffice.
• The Senior Soup Podcast co-hosts Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner may improve the technical quality of its audio recordings; however, any audio upgrades will not alter the substance or meaning of the original content.
• All photo illustrations, graphics, or animations will be clearly labeled. See more below on digital media integrity.

SOURCING IN OUR REPORTING AND PODCASTS 

• The Senior Soup co-founders strive to have information on the record with full attribution to the source when reporting on or covering a topical story disseminated with news-related value.
• Exceptions to this policy will be rare, made only with the approval of The Senior Soup co-founders Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner, and when the information is critical to the story and can be obtained in no other way.
• Further, The Senior Soup’s co-founders must know the source to be reliable and have direct access to the information.
• The Senior Soup will identify and report any bias the source may have.
• The anonymous source must be told that their name will be shared with one or both of The Senior Soup’s co-founders.

IMPARTIALITY, FINANCIAL SPONSORS, AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• Editorial decisions are made by The Senior Soup co-founders Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner under the strictest ethics code.
• Those who contribute to The Senior Soup, whether through financial, service-related, or in-kind gifts, do so with the understanding that The Senior Soup co-founders are accountable only to quality media and fact-based information.
• Any potential donor who contributes to The Senior Soup will be made aware upfront that their support does not entitle them to preferential treatment with The Senior Soup co-founders and in no way protects them from journalistic scrutiny, should the circumstances apply.
• The Senior Soup does not accept donations made anonymously.
• The Senior Soup does not accept donations or sponsorships from political action committees, political candidates, or any other organization, partisan or otherwise, that conflicts with the values of The Senior Soup as a media, healthcare, and senior advocacy organization.
• The Senior Soup co-founders Raquel Micit and Ryan Miner (and any guest bloggers or podcasters) pledge to abide by the following restrictions:
  • Refrain from inducing or encouraging violations of law or public policy;
  • Refrain from taking any other action inconsistent with applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code or related regulations.

• The Senior Soup co-founders may sometimes moderate panels and speak at events, including our events that sponsors underwrite.
• Sponsors of events hosted by The Senior Soup do not determine the panelists, the subject matter, or the questions.
• The Senior Soup co-founders may speak at events hosted by other companies or institutions if the event is otherwise consistent with its ethics policy.

DIGITAL MEDIA INTEGRITY 

• Images used by The Senior Soup throughout its digital platforms must always tell the truth.
• The content of a photograph may not be altered by any means.
• No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph.
• The faces or identities of individuals must not be obscured by Photoshop or any other editing tool.
• Only minor retouching to remove scratches or dust on scanned negatives or scanned prints is acceptable.
• Cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, and regular toning and color adjustments are allowed. Still, they are limited to what is minimally necessary for precise and accurate reproduction and restoring the photograph’s authentic nature.
• Changes in density, contrast, color, and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene or the appearance of individuals are not acceptable.
• Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated. The removal of “red eye” from photographs is not allowed.
• Any video taken by The Senior Soup co-founders may be improved by using subtle, standard methods such as adjusting video and audio levels, color correcting due to white balance, eliminating buzzing, hums, clicks, pops, or overly long pauses or other technical faults, and equalization of audio to make the sound clearer — provided the content is not concealed, obscured, removed or otherwise altered.