At the heart of what we do (original) (raw)

Our most important relationship is the one we have with our readers; what they think about what we do, and how we do it, really matters. This year, via regular polls and surveys, and the launch of Guardian Crowd, a panel of more than 4,000 readers, our readers have been able to share their thoughts and ideas about everything from the topics we cover to the advertising we carry.

With the help of our Audience team, we have also revamped our readers’ survey. This annual exercise captures how we are perceived as a brand, as measured against our values, practices and behaviours. The survey’s findings help us to make sure we are living up to our readers’ expectations of how we conduct ourselves. You can read this year’s survey here.

Integrity

‘Cleanness’ or integrity is one of the Scott Trust values. As reported last year, as part of our commitment to living that value, we set up the Editorial Partnership Group. This group meets weekly to make sure that any proposed sponsored or commercial editorial content on theguardian.com doesn’t clash with our core values. Guardian journalists are unable to contribute to advertisement features, which distinguishes us from other news organisations.

In the 2014 report, we also mentioned that we were working on a labelling system that would help to distinguish straightforward reporting from sponsored or commercial content. This system has now been introduced and labelling is prominently displayed on all commercial or sponsored editorial content, alongside a link to our website which explains the labelling that lets people know who has editorial control. Labelling guidelines have been provided to all staff working in the UK, US and Australia. There are also sponsored content guidelines that are available for anyone to read.

Some of the social and environmental justice campaigns that formed part of sponsored content that was approved included a roundtable or Palm Oil Debate; DNV GL’s Rethinking prosperity hub which challenges conventional economic models; and many sites dedicated to charities campaigns. The Live Better campaign, which we reported on last year, exceeded all expectations in terms of page views. And we also sponsored a supplement about celebrating diversity in the workplace and reported on the Guardian Big Energy Debate.

Low impact

As a digital first company, one of our ambitions is to make our business processes as smooth and as paper-free as possible, all of which helps to reduce our carbon impact. For example, in our Guardian Masterclass teams, guest lists, course materials and information folders are in digital form wherever possible and name badges and signage are recycled.

Our Events team use ethically sourced food and digital branding where possible. One of their flagship events, the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards, will be held at The Crystal on Royal Victoria Docks, which runs on solar power and ground source heat pumps that generate energy. Everything at the ceremony, from the trophies to the food and set design, will be sustainable. At the Observer Food Monthly Awards in October 2015, the food will include only the freshest seasonal ingredients sourced from local suppliers. All the plants they use are seasonally grown in the UK (over 95% are sourced from local nurseries).

Partners

We try to make sure that the partners we work with share our values and our approach to the environment. To this end, we now include a climate responsibility question in all tender processes and applicants are scored on responses. We are also working on a project that will reduce paperwork and streamline and improve our readers’ experience when they interact with us to take out a subscription, buy a book from the Guardian Bookshop or take advantage of any of our commercial services.

Data

Along with many other commercial digital businesses, we use information about our readers to make our products and services more relevant to them. With the consent of our readers, we also use the data to make money from advertising that is then reinvested in the Guardian and its award-winning journalism.

In November 2014, to reassure people that their personal information is safe with us, we produced a video entitled ‘Why your data matters to us’. It explained in more detail how and why we use the data we collect about them and it sets out clearly how they can stay in control of that data. We also emailed readers, who agreed to be contacted, setting out the same message. The topic was also covered in this article on the Inside the Guardian blog.