Future of Good’s editorial ethics and standards

Equity

Future of Good is committed to including the perspectives of as many identities as possible in our stories. Our goals as of now include never publishing a story that includes only white nor only male voices, and including voices from outside of central Canada in every story. We are working toward wider diversity of sources when it comes to ability, LGBTQ2S+ identity, lived experience with subject matter, and more. While leadership in the social impact world overwhelmingly undiverse, we are committed to platforming underrepresented voices and stories. 

 

Truth

Future of Good makes every effort possible to ensure the information in our stories is factual. We also take care to distinguish between the opinions of our sources and verifiable facts. We correct any errors in stories as soon as we learn of them. 

We value truth over balance. We will not include perspectives or viewpoints that are factually incorrect in our stories for the sake of balance. For instance, in a story about the climate crisis, we will not include the perspective of someone who denies that climate change is caused by humans. 

 

Independence 

Future of Good’s current revenue model relies on content partnerships and membership subscriptions. While we sometimes cover the work our members and partners do outside of any agreement, we take care to make sure these organizations or individuals are not given editorial priority. As a small team, our editor oversees both sponsored and non-sponsored stories, and is committed to covering any organization we are affiliated with in an impartial manner (outside of paid content). Future of Good does not have any special reporting obligations to any organization outside of paid partnerships. Future of Good does not advocate for or do any lobbying on behalf of any organization or sector.

Our writers do not cover an organization or person to whom they have a personal relationship. Staff writers are not permitted to accept employment from organizations that Future of Good covers or is likely to cover. All Future of Good writers are free to express their opinions on political matters, matters of the social impact world, and other subjects on social media, so long as their work does not show bias.

Future of Good as an organization does not subscribe to any particular political ideology. 

 

Transparency 

All stories paid for by a partner organization are labeled as such upfront. 

 

Editorial process

Story ideas are either pitched by writers (staff or freelance) to Future of Good’s editor, or they’re assigned by the editor to the writer. Future of Good’s editor and publisher vet every story idea through the lens of how much it aligns with our editorial direction. Once the story is accepted, it goes through an editing process during which both the editor and the publisher review the story, checking for accuracy, editing for style, and more substantive content editing.

Future of Good also accepts thought leadership or opinion piece pitches from social impact professionals. These pieces go through the same vetting process as reported stories. 

 

Compensation 

All writers of reported stories are paid by Future of Good. Our freelance rates vary depending on how much reporting is involved, but start at 50 cents per word. Thought leaders are not paid for their pieces. 

 

Distribution and sharing

Future of Good stories are not under a creative commons license. Our content is sometimes republished with written permission from a member of the Future of Good staff.