Ethics

Across The Culture believes its greatest role is to make better sense of existing information instead of running the hot take race. ATC-MSP believes its role locally is to help readers question, change, and/or preserve important aspects of Twin Cities culture.

ATC-MSP will publish original investigations, but emphasis will be placed on clarifying our shared view of Twin Cities culture rather than having the latest scoop.

No information source can cover everything. As soon as topics and stories are chosen, many others are left out. As soon as an angle is taken, many others remain unexplored. There is no truly unbiased source of information. That being said, ATC-MSP’s process to capture the reality of Twin Cities culture before opining on it is thorough, accurate, and impartial.

How do we get our facts straight before editorializing?

What Goes Into Our Work

• Context, Context, Context: Giving you as much relevant information as possible to accurately show the nature, scope, and seriousness of a subject
  • Example: How Intense Is Local Basketball Culture?
    • Broad statistics of basketball investment as a backdrop (e.g. Pro Am and Timberwolves attendance figures, number of recreational leagues, money spent on public gyms and outdoor courts)
    • Appropriate comparisons between the ways in which people participate in local hoops (e.g. city facilities versus fitness chains, public schools versus private schools, school hoops versus traveling leagues, various forms of spectating) including observable and statistical differences
      • Possible insights: how economics color each participation style, how seasonal climate affects participation styles, effects of other sports on basketball popularity
    • Interviews across the spectrum of participants to humanize facts and figures

• Research
  • Citing a variety of reputable sources including but not limited to:
    • Regularly-cited editorials
    • Academic journals
    • Federal, state, municipal, and county government websites and databases
    • Publications with reliable first-hand (primary) accounts
    • Sources close to the subject being discussed
    • Independent newsletters, blogs, and podcasts citing the types of sources mentioned above
    • Veritable social media posts from relevant subjects
  • Addressing flaws and limitations of cited sources
  • Using third-party sources — sources not directly involved in a given issue — to validate our perspectives when possible
  • Prioritizing primary sources of information to establish basic truths (i.e. what actually happened)
  • Original investigations including interviews, surveys, and deep analysis of public information and sensitive information of public interest

• Counters: addressing notable alternative or opposing views of a subject to create a fuller view and validate the conclusions we reach

Conflicts of Interest

• No financial supporter of ATC-MSP receives or is entitled to preferential treatment. Financial supporters of ATC-MSP are open to the same level of journalistic scrutiny as any other subject.
  • Financial supporters as of Nov 30, 2022: none

• ATC-MSP is an active subject in the category “Arts and Media.” Discussion in this category can sometimes include our competitors and collaborators.
  • Subjects who have commercial relationships with ATC-MSP or close personal relationships with relevant ATC-MSP personnel will be clearly identified
  • Subjects with commercial relationships to ATC-MSP or close personal relationships with relevant ATC-MSP personnel, like any other subject, will only be discussed for their relevance to local culture
  • Subjects with commercial relationships to ATC-MSP or close relationships with ATC-MSP personnel will be open to the same level of journalistic scrutiny as any other subject
  • In the event ATC-MSP decides it cannot fairly discuss a subject, ATC-MSP will abstain from doing so

Other Principles

• No hit pieces
• No political endorsements
• No libel
• Criticism of public figures is reserved for their public behavior and private behavior of public interest — if it doesn’t concern the people of the Twin Cities, it does not concern ATC-MSP
• Sponsored work will be clearly identified
• The standards laid out on this page are subject to review and possible changes; changes made to ATC-MSP ethics will be clearly identified