EDITORIAL POLICY

Rise Radio complies with all the rules and regulations governing the registration and operation media institutions in Sierra Leone. It abides by the Independent Media Commission (IMC) Code of Practice, the rules and regulations of the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Code of Ethics.

Editorial Values

Accuracy

Rise Radio ensures that its programmes conform to reality and not in any way misleading or false regarding the dissemination of information. The programme makers remain enterprising in pursuing and presenting issues. Production is based on thorough research and production techniques.

Fairness

The radio ensures that it engages in openness and straight dealing by reporting the relevant facts and significant points of view in fair and ethical treatment of issues, events, people and institutions.

Independence

This is the central to the station’s integrity and credibility. It ensures that the station’s programmes are not influenced by pressures from political, commercial or other sectional interests or by the staff’s own personal views or activities.

Balance

The station ensures that its programming is fair, accurate and balanced. Where an appropriate representative of one side of the story cannot be reached, the journalist or producer is required to announce the fact in a simple and direct manner.

Conflict of Interest

Management, presenters, programme makers and journalists must not sign, promote or endorse any public petition on any matter of national significance which is likely to attract coverage on Rise Radio or against its ethos.

Guidelines for interviewing children

In addition to the Media Code of Practice, the station shall adhere to international best practices set out by UNICEF and other international organisations on reporting on children. They are:

• Do no harm to any child; avoid questions, attitudes or comments that are judgemental, insensitive to cultural values, that place a child in danger or expose a child to humiliation, or that reactivate the pain of traumatic events.
• Do not discriminate in choosing children to interview because of their sex, race, age, religion, status, educational background or physical abilities.
• No staging: do not ask children to tell a story or take an action that is not part of their own history.
• Ensure that the child or guardian knows they are talking to a reporter. Explain the purpose of the interview and its intended use.
• Obtain permission from the child and his or her guardian for all interviews, videotaping and, when possible, for documentary photographs. When possible and appropriate, this permission should be in writing. Permission must be obtained in circumstances that ensure that the child and guardian are not coerced in any way and that they understand that they are part of a story that might be disseminated locally and globally. This is usually only ensured if the permission is obtained in the child’s language and if the decision is made in consultation with an adult the child trusts. Pay attention to where and how the child is interviewed.
• Do not further stigmatize any child; avoid categorizations or descriptions that expose a child to negative reprisals – including additional physical or psychological harm, or to lifelong abuse, discrimination or rejection by their local communities.
• In certain cases, using a child’s identity (their name and/or recognizable image) is in the child’s best interests. However, when the child’s identity is used, they must still be protected against harm and supported in the event of any stigmatization or reprisals.

Complaint Procedure

The station operates a complaint handling mechanism and promptly responds to all concerns and queries about its broadcast.