CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Facts, attribution and sourcing
3. Corrections, updates and content warnings
4. Opinion
5. Partnership content
6. Privacy
1. Introduction
Concrete Playground is Australia's fourth largest independently-owned digital publisher (Nielsen Market Intelligence, July 2018), and is a vital and authoritative news resource for 18-40 year olds in five cities across Australia and New Zealand. We look at the way our cities evolve, and report on breaking news (both local and international) relevant to the people that live in them. We publish guides, preview events, profile and review local businesses and the people behind them, examine infrastructure, policy and city planning issues, and anything else our readers need to know about how they live in, explore and enjoy their city.
In doing so, we help to shape the culture and development of the cities we cover — and we do that responsibly and ethically. These standards of practice are to be adhered to by all Concrete Playground editors, writers, contributors and staff.
If a reader believes that we have not met these standards, they are encouraged to contact us via our feedback system.
2. Facts, attribution and sources
Credit
All news should come from a primary source except in breaking news situations. Then it is fine to credit a story to a source (like AAP, The Sydney Morning Herald, The New York Times, etc.) as long as that source is not considered a direct competitor. We should only ever attribute exclusive facts and/or quotes to another publication — we never reproduce content. When crediting a source, writers must clearly include a link and attribution to the publication in-text and at the footer of the article.
Facts
All facts need to be thoroughly checked by both writers and editors before publishing — we have a duty to our readers to provide them with well-researched, accurate information. This extends to everything from the quality of a restaurant to allegations of misconduct. When referencing a fact that has an online primary source (like a statistic from the ABS), include a link.
Plagiarism
All words are our own. We do not reproduce copy (that is, sentences, phrases or words) from other publishers, commercial websites or press releases.
Photography
We require permission to use all photography that is not owned by Concrete Playground, and include any credits as requested.
Social posts
Any social media posts that are embedded into articles on Concrete Playground must be directly related to the reader's understanding of that article. They should not feature personal information about the original author unless permission has been explicitly sought.
Quotes
Direct quotes cannot be altered, and subjects do not have any approval over their quotes.
3. Corrections, updates and content warnings
Content warnings
Any content that may be triggering or upsetting to some readers should come with a content warning, both at the beginning of the body copy and on social media. This could include topics like death, assault and addiction. However, when dealing with this subject matter, we must make sure that it falls within the realm of the public interest.
Corrections
Corrections will only be made to a published piece if something is found to be factually incorrect. If a change is made to a published article, a dated amendment will be added to the footer to acknowledge the original piece has been edited. Style, spelling or grammar edits do not need to be cited as corrections.
Updates
We add updates to stories that are unfolding with a dated amendment at the footer of the original piece. If the update alters the story significantly, a new story should be filed.
4. Opinion
Conflicts of interest
All writers must disclose any possible conflict of interest on any piece of work they submit. This must then be disclosed at the footer of the published piece.
Politics
Concrete Playground — and its writers and editors — does not have any formal affiliation to any political party. When reporting on policy and public issues, we always remain fair, balanced and partisan. However, as a publication, we do speculate and discuss how policy may affect the cities we live in and encourage our readers to do the same.
Reviews
We regularly critique restaurants and bars, and cultural events. These judgements are entirely our own and are only made after experiencing the subject first-hand. All positive and negative feedback must be backed up by reasoning. Our reviews provide a useful resource for our readers and encourage innovation in the arts and hospitality industries — if a review is exceptionally negative, we will strongly consider not running it at all.
5. Partnership content
All content that has been produced as part of a financial partnership with a third party is always clearly labelled as such with a 'CP in partnership with [brand partner]' badge at the top of the page, just beneath the headline. We never attempt to disguise our partnerships or mislead our readers.
Opinion pieces (including our restaurant and film reviews) are entirely independent and are never produced in partnership with a third party. Our relationships with brands only extends to the content labelled as partnership content — they do not influence any other content on Concrete Playground.
6. Privacy
Please refer to our Privacy Policy.