Editorial Policy
Morn Pen Mag Pty Ltd is a trusted community voice that informs, engages and entertains residents and visitors throughout the Mornington Peninsula, Frankston and Melbourne. Our magazines empower and enrich the lives of tens of thousands of people with our independent, quality content and photography.
We offer print and digitally‐driven media delivering information about marketplaces, health services, arts and entertainment brands and providing a powerful connection between advertising and our large, diverse audiences.
Honesty, trust and integrity are defining characteristics of the way we work. In all our dealings with our colleagues and external partners, we maintain transparency and take accountability.
Morn Pen Mag Pty Ltd (hereafter referred to as “Morn Pen Mag”) is the owner and publisher of Mornington Peninsula Magazine, Holiday Magazine and Eat.Drink Mornington Peninsula.
Mornington Peninsula Magazine is a predominantly lifestyle magazine published monthly and circulating throughout the Mornington Peninsula and Greater Frankston region. Editorial content focuses on the community, highlighting achievers in the arts, our Indigenous community, the environment, the health sector, charities and local organisations.
Holiday Magazine is published twice-yearly and promotes tourism on the Mornington Peninsula.
Eat.Drink is published annually and celebrates the diversity and successes of the Peninsula’s food, beverage and wine producers.
The contents of our publications both in print and online are protected by copyright law and the copyright resides with Morn Pen Mag. Reproduction of any content, in part or in full, is strictly prohibited without prior permission from the Publisher. If permission is given, the person republishing the material is obliged to acknowledge Morn Pen Mag as the source and owner of said material.
Below, we set out our code of conduct, standards of practice, advertising policy (including advertorials), our complaints resolution practice, and our general principles. These are all aligned to our culture and values across all Morn Pen Mag brands, assets and operations.
Code Of Conduct
All Morn Pen Mag journalists, advertising staff and contributors are expected to abide by the following Code of Conduct:
1. You will always identify yourself as an employee of or contributor to Mornington Peninsula Magazine, Eat.Drink Mornington Peninsula or Holiday Magazine and will always represent Morn Pen Mag with professionalism, integrity and dignity.
2. All work must be your own. If you source material from another publication, including images, you must first seek approval from that publication and acknowledge that publication as the source. Plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated.
3. You will not do anything that would tarnish or bring into disrepute the reputation of Morn Pen Mag, its staff and its advertisers.
4. You will at all times provide the subject/s of an ‘advertorial’ with a copy of said article before publication for their approval.
5. In the event that you receive a complaint about any aspect of a published article, you are to refer that complaint IN THE FIRST INSTANCE to the Publisher.
Standards Of Practice
Morn Pen Mag abides by the Australian Press Council’s Standards of Practice.
The Press Council endeavours to ensure that its standards promote excellence in journalistic practice and reflect the realities of journalism and the media industry in Australia. Council members – representing the general public, the publishers and independent journalists – regularly review the Standards of Practice to ensure their continuing relevance and effectiveness.
Under the Council’s Constitution, the Standards of Practice are binding on all member publications, and are applied in the resolution of all complaints (whether or not the publisher is a Council member). The Council’s Standards of Practice relating to print and online publishing are contained in the Statement of General Principles (below).
In addition, Morn Pen Mag abides by what the Press Council has developed and published including a variety of Advisory Guidelines for editors and journalists, to help guide them in producing high-quality news coverage.
The Council continues to review and revise the existing Guidelines and to develop new ones where appropriate. In many cases, the Council hopes to reinforce these Guidelines with education and training initiatives for the industry, in which Morn Pen Mag will take part.
The Council regularly organises round table discussions and other meetings with journalists, editors, members of the community and representatives of peak bodies in order to determine concerns, controversies and uncertainties about ethical reporting on issues of importance, which helps guide the Council’s work program and priorities in this area. Morn Pen Mag keeps updated with the outcome of these meetings and abides by any changes.
Statement Of General Principles
This Statement of General Principles forms part of the Australian Press Council’s Standards of Practice, by which Morn Pen Mag abides. The Standards are applied when considering and adjudicating on complaints about particular instances of practice.
The Council’s Advisory Guidelines may also be taken into account but are not binding Standards.
The Standards of Practice apply to text, headlines, photographs, graphics, captions, audio, video and all other forms of published material, but not to advertising.
Publishers and editors are responsible for taking reasonable steps to comply with the Standards in their print and online publications. This applies to actions by their employees and external contributors, including those who are not journalists.
Morn Pen Mag abides by the Council’s Constitution to co-operate with its handling of complaints. This includes publishing all Council adjudications relating to Morn Pen Mag’s particular publications.
PREAMBLE
In a democratic society, all people have the right to freedom of expression and to be informed. These rights cannot be secured unless the press is free to publish facts and opinions without fear or favour.
Freedom of the press, however, carries responsibilities to the public. Liberty does not mean licence, and due regard must be given to other important freedoms, rights and values which are in the public interest.
Accordingly, the Press Council has laid down the following General Principles to which all Morn Pen Mag’s mastheads are committed to abide by.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Publications are free to publish as they wish by reporting facts and expressing opinions, provided they take reasonable steps to comply with the following Principles and the Council’s other Standards of Practice.
Accuracy and clarity
1. Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.
2. Provide a correction or other adequate remedial action if published material is significantly inaccurate or misleading.
Fairness and balance
3. Ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance, and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.
4. Ensure that where material refers adversely to a person, a fair opportunity is given for subsequent publication of a reply if that is reasonably necessary to address a possible breach of General Principle 3.
Privacy and avoidance of harm
5. Avoid intruding on a person’s reasonable expectations of privacy, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
6. Avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
Integrity and transparency
7. Avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
8. Ensure that conflicts of interests are avoided or adequately disclosed, and that they do not influence published material.
ADVERTISING
The Publisher or her authorised nominee/s reserves the right to refuse an advertisement for whatever reason; however, the advertiser will be informed of the reason for refusal at the earliest possible time after Morn Pen Mag’s receipt of the proposed advertisement.
All claims made in advertisements are those of the advertiser and are in no way endorsed by Morn Pen Mag. Morn Pen Mag reserves the right to reject the publication of any claims that the Publisher determines are likely to contravene Australian advertising standards or that would cause hurt or embarrassment to, or call into question the integrity or professionalism of, any third party.
Advertisers and contributors and their agents warrant to the Publisher that supplied material is in no way an infringement of any copyright or other right. The advertiser, contributor or its agents agree to indemnify the Publisher against any claims or judgments in consequence of any breach.
ADVERTORIALS
‘Advertorial’ is the term for newspaper and magazine content that looks like editorial content but is published under a commercial arrangement between an advertiser, promoter or sponsor of goods and/or services and the publisher.
Such commercial arrangements may include payment for articles to be published and undertakings that editorial content will be published in exchange for, or as part of, an agreement to place an advertisement or provide a sponsorship.
‘Advertorials’ in Morn Pen Mag are identified by such terms as “advertisement”, “advertising feature”, “special feature”, or “sponsored editorial” or are carried in a defined Special Feature section within the magazine, so that readers are not led to believe the content is based on editorial news values free of commercial influences.
‘Advertorials’ are regarded as advertisements and will be covered by regulations and guidelines that apply to advertisements. Complaints to Morn Pen Mag or the Australian Press Council about ‘advertorials’ usually will be redirected to a relevant advertising or trade practices authority. Complaints can also be lodged at Ad Standards Limited, complaints form : https://adstandards.com.au/lodge-complaint
Where publication of material is not part of a commercial arrangement or not deemed to be ‘advertorial’, or is said to mislead readers as to its provenance, and is the subject of a complaint lodged with the Council, it will be dealt with under the Council’s Standards of Practice.
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