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Editorial Guidelines

Standards and practices for SixOneFive Soccer

Everyone who writes, reports, or contributes for SixOneFive Soccer is expected to follow these standards. They exist to protect the trust readers place in our coverage, trust that matters even more for an independent outlet with no institutional backing behind it. Deviating from these guidelines can be grounds for editing, holding, or declining to run a piece, as well as potential removal from SixOneFive Soccer.

Reporting and Newsgathering

  • Identify yourself as reporting for SixOneFive Soccer when you're working a story. Don't leave subjects guessing who they're talking to or why.
  • Record interviews whenever possible. This ensures accuracy, in addition to providing a defense if a quote gets disputed later. Keep recordings and notes for at least two years. Do not simply paraphrase quotes for an entire story; direct quotes are always best.
  • Get verbal consent before recording. Ask directly ("do you mind if I record this?") and get an audible yes. Recording laws vary by state. Don’t assume consent carries over from an in-person conversation to a follow-up phone call; obtain consent to record for every individual conversation. 
  • Sources and subjects never get to preview or approve a story before it publishes. If a source asks for that as a condition of the interview, decline and notify your editor.
  • Be mindful that texts, DMs, and emails with sources can leak or get subpoenaed. Don't put anything in writing you wouldn't want made public.
  • Follow the law. No trespassing, harassing subjects, destruction of property, or shortcuts that put a story ahead of someone's basic rights are acceptable. These are all grounds for editing, holding, or declining to run a piece, as well as removal from SixOneFive Soccer.
  • Preserve notes and recordings for a reasonable period after publication, ideally two years.
  • Don't hand over notes, recordings, or unpublished material to a third party (including leagues, teams, or other media outlets) unless legally compelled to.

Independence

  • SixOneFive Soccer doesn't carry water for anyone; not Nashville SC, not MLS, not sponsors, not advertisers. Coverage decisions are made on news value and furthering our mission of providing the most comprehensive coverage of Nashville soccer, not on who it might upset or please.
  • Don't accept travel, gifts, or payment from anyone with a stake in what you cover if there's any expectation attached. Small, unsolicited gifts that are typical in a sports media environment (a press-box meal, seasonal media gifts) are fine. Anything that creates the appearance of buying favorable coverage isn't. Specific instances are subject to discretion. If you’re unsure, consult with your editor.
  • SixOneFive Soccer will never pay sources for information, on or off the record.

Sourcing

  • Anonymous sources are sometimes necessary, but they should be the exception, not the norm. Understand why a source needs anonymity before agreeing to it. Try to negotiate the most transparency possible with a source before agreeing to anonymity.
  • Anonymous sourcing gets extra scrutiny before publication: Is the source firsthand or secondhand? What's their motive for talking? Can it be corroborated elsewhere? Describe an anonymous source as specifically as the agreement with them allows. More details are better; “a club source” is better than “a source with knowledge”, etc.
  • If SixOneFive Soccer runs with anonymous sourcing on anything consequential, an editor needs to provide review before publishing.
  • More sources are always better! If you receive information from a source, even a reliable one, seek to verify it with additional trusted sources before moving forward. 
  • Don't take other outlets' anonymously-sourced reporting at face value. Verify independently, or make clear in the piece that a claim is unverified and attributed to another outlet's reporting.
  • In some scenarios, a single well-placed source with firsthand knowledge and a track record can be enough to run something. Two sources with secondhand information are not enough to publish. If in doubt, consult with your editor.
  • Know the difference between these terms, and confirm which one a source means before assuming shared understanding:
    • "Off the record" — Not usable in the story at all. Can be used privately to help verify the same fact through another source, without attribution, but cannot be directly used in reporting.
    • "Not for attribution" — Can be quoted directly, but the source is described only in general terms (a promise of anonymity).
    • "On background" — Can be paraphrased and used, but not quoted directly, and the source isn't identified even generically.

Fairness

  • If a piece criticizes a person, team, or organization, give them a real chance to respond before it runs. That means reaching out with enough specificity and enough time for them to actually engage, not a same-day email as a formality.

Attribution, Sourcing Data, and Plagiarism

  • When a fact, quote, or reporting originates with another outlet, attribute and link to it.
  • When someone else uses SixOneFive Soccer's original reporting or data work, expect (and ask for) a link back.
  • Crediting a source doesn't grant permission to reuse their copyrighted material (text, images, charts, or otherwise) wholesale.
  • Data and stats pulled from public providers (American Soccer Analysis, ESPN, Futi, Fotmob, etc.) should be attributed to the provider, even when it's been reshaped into SixOneFive's own charts or models. Original analysis, formulas, and models built on top of that data are ours. Say so, and don't let a data provider's name get lost in the shuffle.
  • Plagiarism (lifting someone else's work or wording without credit) is grounds for editing, holding, or declining to run a piece, as well as removal from SixOneFive Soccer.

Corrections

  • If a serious error or offensive content is published, fix it immediately and add an editor's note at the top explaining what changed.
  • If errors that affect the substance of a story are published, fix it immediately and add an editor's note at the top explaining what changed.
  • If typos or small errors that don't change the meaning are published, they need to be corrected immediately.

Access and Conduct

  • Behave professionally in any credentialed setting: press box, locker room, mixed zone, team facility, etc. This is a privilege, not a right, and how you conduct yourself there reflects on SixOneFive Soccer as a whole.
  • Absolutely no alcohol or drug use while covering an event.
  • Professional conduct is mandatory on social media, too, including your personal accounts. What you post publicly is inseparable from your byline.
  • Credentialed media contributing on behalf of SixOneFive Soccer may not wear licensed team gear in the press box.
  • Remember that the reputation of SixOneFive Soccer as an organization is only as good as the reputation of those contributing for the outlet. 

Data and Analytics Integrity

Since a meaningful share of SixOneFive's work is data journalism rather than traditional reporting, the same integrity standards apply to models and stats as to quotes and sources:

  • Be transparent about methodology. If a rating, projection, or ranking is doing real interpretive work in a piece, readers should be able to find out roughly how it's built.
  • Don't cherry-pick endpoints, samples, or comparisons to manufacture a more dramatic conclusion than the data supports.
  • If a bug, data error, or model flaw materially changes a published number or conclusion, it needs to be corrected with an editor’s note.

AI Usage

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool, but must be used ethically. 

Some examples of appropriate AI usage:

  • Transcribing quotes using an app like Notta, Otter, etc.
  • Building supplemental applications (our standings and power rankings applications were built with the assistance of AI).
  • Coding and data pipeline work.

Some examples of inappropriate AI usage:

  • AI-generated stories under a human byline. SixOneFive Soccer will never publish AI-written stories. Submitting AI-generated stories to an editor as your own work is grounds for editing, holding, or declining to run a piece, as well as removal from SixOneFive Soccer.
  • Fabricated quotes or facts
  • Using an AI model to plagiarize content from another writer or source
  • AI-generated images or graphics, both for site and social media publication

Ownership and Use of Content

By submitting an article, data analysis, graphic or other work product to SixOneFive Soccer, a contributor grants SixOneFive Soccer a perpetual, royalty-free license to publish, edit, distribute, and archive that work. 

Independent Contractor

Contributors to SixOneFive Soccer are freelancers and independent contractors, not employees, of SixOneFive Soccer. Contributors control the manner and means by which they produce content, subject only to the standards set out in these guidelines, which exist to protect the journalistic integrity and the outlet’s reputation. Contributors are free to write for, report for, and otherwise work with other outlets. These guidelines govern the editorial standards only and do not create an employment relationship, partnership, or joint venture between SixOneFive Soccer and any contributor. 

These guidelines will evolve as SixOneFive Soccer grows. If something here doesn't fit a situation you're in, use your judgment in the spirit of the document — independence, accuracy, and fairness — and flag it so the guidelines can be updated.