ethics policy

mission + intentions

The mission behind this newsletter is to focus on immigration issues in WA state with its marginalized communities and their needs in mind. I believe journalism can be a powerful tool for social change, and a resource for people to make sense of and fight back against systems of oppression.

As a reporter, I covered a wide net of stories, from housing to the census. These stories all had one thing in common: the country's marginalized and underserved communities were at the heart of them. Real issues affect real people, and in this non-stop, inundating news cycle, we often lose sight of that.

Journalism is a field that lends itself to the power of human connection. The stories that stand out are the ones where the reporter is truly invested in the story and in humanizing its characters. I have approached every step in my career with this very principle in mind.


approach to fairness + journalism ethics

I’ve been a journalist for a little over 7 years, and more recently worked in investigations where I was held to a high standard of ethics and accuracy in my work. I’m quite orthodox when it comes to journalism ethics, but I don’t believe it comes at odds with the essential beliefs I have towards issues of human rights. I stand firm in my support for resistance against all forms of oppression and colonialism, and in my support for economic and racial justice — such as Black, Indigenous and Palestinian liberation – and believe that coming into the journalism industry with these values has helped me build trust with my sources in order to cover their stories as fairly and accurately as possible. 

As for my corrections policy, as I’m not publishing on a daily basis, I plan for corrections to be standalone posts.

This project is fully independent with the exception of startup funding from Project C. This plays no role in the editorial content, its execution or planning.

approach to sourcing

I rely on primary sources and interviews, and a rigorous fact-checking process for secondary sources. I plan to include explainers on my process for more thorough reporting ideas.

I approach this work with my sources’ needs in mind. I’m aware of how intrusive journalism can be – most times you’re entering someone’s most vulnerable headspace and projecting it to a very public and permanent platform. I am very careful about communicating the guidelines under which I interview sources, and always offer anonymity as an option for sources who are undocumented or actively undergoing immigration proceedings. Other policies I’ve implemented in my journalism are “no surprises” quote checks and not uploading sensitive interviews to online transcription services, such as Otter. If you have any other questions, please reach out to me through Signal at @farah.02 or the contact form on this site.