{"id":13057,"date":"2020-01-07T10:37:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T10:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/byline.com\/?page_id=13057"},"modified":"2020-12-21T17:42:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T17:42:22","slug":"manifesto","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/byline.com\/manifesto\/","title":{"rendered":"Manifesto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background\"><em>This was the manifesto drawn up by the original Byline.com team when it first launched in 2015. Some has changed since the advent of Byline Festival, Byline Times and Byline.TV &#8211; but not the essence of it<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-default fhb-lh-default\">Manifesto<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">Independence: <\/span><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-italic fhb-fs-xs fhb-lh-xs\">Don&#8217;t Shoot the Messenger\n<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Too often, proprietors and advertisers divert journalists from doing their real job: reporting the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In today&#8217;s media, editorial teams often trim content to fit their paymaster\u2019s ideological or commercial agenda. Sponsored content and native advertising smuggle PR in through the back door. Worse still, journalists self-censor because they know what will and will not be commissioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Byline is different. We don\u2019t need advertising traffic. Instead, we help journalists to get funded directly by the public, so that they can report the stories that need to be told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">Opinion: <\/span><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-italic fhb-fs-xs fhb-lh-xs\">To Each Their Own<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Byline is a platform for news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good reporting of reality should trump ideology, but no journalist is completely objective. We accept that. Instead of pretending complete impartiality, we hope to counter it by encompassing a wide diversity of views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to opinion pieces, we also encourage our writers to declare their bias. And argue for it. And sometimes change their minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">But Facts Matter<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though we accept absolute truth isn\u2019t reachable, aspiring to accuracy is still important. You can have your own opinions but you can\u2019t have your own facts. We aim to be an evidence-based site \u2013 though one always open to new evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though we don\u2019t editorialise, we believe sustained relationships with a variety of journalists will create a healthy equilibrium of fact-checking and debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">A Platform<\/span><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-italic fhb-fs-xs fhb-lh-xs\">Not a Paper<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Byline is a platform, not a paper. This means we don\u2019t edit our journalists, or tell them what their opinion should be. We have no &#8216;style guide&#8217;. And we don\u2019t commission stories, either \u2013 the public does. If anything, we will occasionally step in and try to arbitrate. But ultimately the people who hold our writers to account are you, their readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">Democratic, <\/span><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-italic fhb-fs-xs fhb-lh-xs\">Pluralist Media<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The news media industry is becoming a sham. 90% of US news media is run by just six companies, down from 50 in 1983. 80% of the British press is owned by a club of five men, most of whom don\u2019t even pay tax in the UK. No wonder the papers aggressively support politicians who oppose tougher regulations on tax avoidance and media ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can we trust the press to fight for the public interest? We don\u2019t believe we can. So we want to cut out the cronies and bring you reader-funded news. We aren\u2019t anti-business, we\u2019re anti-oligopoly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If there\u2019s a journalist prepared to write it and a reader prepared to pay for it, it can exist on Byline \u2013 regardless of who it annoys. By definition, that\u2019s what a free press should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">Accountability<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The journalist is accountable to the paying reader. When you pay, you have the right to directly ask questions to the journalist in a dedicated Byline &#8216;Supporters\u2019 Caf\u00e9&#8217; And ultimately, you of course have the right to stop paying the journalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are accountable to you as well. Our income comes from a commission on your pledge, rather than advertising. If you don\u2019t see journalism you\u2019re willing to back, we won\u2019t see a penny from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">Believe in the Crowd<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Participation is at the heart of Byline. When you pay a journalist, you are paying for engagement, rather than the article itself. We don\u2019t paywall or own the copyright \u2013 articles are open access and the rights reside with the writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All writing is a form of collaboration, and we believe journalists will welcome your participation, just as much as you welcome yours. A crowd of Byline readers may not just fund a journalist &#8211; they may also provide the journalist with helpful information and fact-checking. You are more than a consumer: you are an active contributor to a vital pillar of civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"fhb  wp-block-fabrica-headline\" style=\"color:#606b73\"><span class=\"fhb__line fhb-bold fhb-fs-s fhb-lh-xs\">Gate Openers<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We believe good reportage and writing is a skill which takes time and support. But we also believe that &#8216;journalism&#8217; began in the diaries and &#8216;journals&#8217; of ordinary citizens. Bearing witness is not just a profession, but also a civic duty and human right. Our aim is to break down all the barriers between readers and writers, and provide an open platform where new or occasional journalists can find their voice and audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We aren\u2019t the gatekeepers of knowledge and information: we are the gate openers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/byline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/about_tree.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13058\" width=\"158\" height=\"59\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This was the manifesto drawn up by the original Byline.com team when it first launched in 2015. Some has changed since the advent of Byline Festival, Byline Times and Byline.TV &#8211; but not the essence of it Too often, proprietors and advertisers divert journalists from doing their real job: reporting the truth. In today&#8217;s media, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13058,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Manifesto - Byline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/byline.com\/manifesto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manifesto - Byline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This was the manifesto drawn up by the original Byline.com team when it first launched in 2015. 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