Our policy on written content

Purpose

These guidelines are designed to ensure clarity and consistency, maintain focus and professionalism.

Attribution: the organisation

“We” are Intersex Human Rights Australia Ltd (IHRA), formerly known as Organisation Intersex International Australia (OII Australia), a not-for-profit company.

Please be clear that we don’t represent all intersex people, but we do try and stay aware of viewpoints from outside our organisation.

Members of the organisation hold a range of opinions. The opinion of any individual board member should be represented as their opinion, unless it’s agreed as a policy by the board.

Attribution: anonymity and pseudonyms

Given the human rights context that we are trying to change, we recognise that intersex people may wish to remain entirely or partially anonymous, or use pseudonyms. So long as this is not used in an intentionally fraudulent manner, then this is acceptable.

Board members of IHRA will, at the very least, use their first name in official contexts.

Attribution: opinion pieces

Opinion pieces must be attributed to an individual and it must be clear that they are not speaking on behalf of IHRA. Personal opinion pieces do not need to conform to the rest of this policy.

Writing style

Promote objective, factual reporting on intersex. Make a clear distinction between editorialising and commentary, on the one hand, and reporting on the other.

Quotations must always be clearly reported as such, with links to their sources. Referencing is always good.

Do not denigrate anyone. Do not make accusations that cannot be justified in the material as it is presented. Use moderate language. Present evidence, and refute it where and when necessary.

Do not repeat lengthy assertions in commentary on every media report. Keep to the task at hand. Refer to analysis elsewhere.

Avoid rhetorical questions (and answers).

Avoid emotive and florid language.

Policy on comments

Comments that defame, vilify, make ad hominem attacks, or use hate speech or offensive language will be deleted. People who employ such language may be blocked.

Social media

These policies apply to social media, except that per-post attribution is often impractical.

Implementation

In our board meeting prior to publication of this policy on 23 March 2012, OII Australia adopted a new policy on written content, on the web and in print. We subsequently reviewed all the material on this website to ensure compliance with the new policy. Please talk to us if you see anything in future that you have issues with.