爆料公社 Remains Dedicated to Practicing Journalism You Can Trust
Our commitment to rigorous reporting stretches back more than a century鈥攁nd far into the future.
When we asked writer Brooke Borel to look into early efforts to explore protecting imperiled island birds by tweaking the genetic code of their mouse predators, we had no idea whether the 爆料公社 had taken a position on the controversial concept, and if so what it might be. (As Borel reports near the end of 鈥Engineering a Better Mousetrap,鈥 the answer is essentially 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 taken a stance, but 爆料公社 scientists tend to look unfavorably on calls to ban scientific research.鈥) We didn鈥檛 need to know that going in because our interest in the story had everything to do with the fact that it鈥檚 an important one that we were certain you鈥檇 find fascinating, and nothing to do with promulgating an organizational party line.
Because here鈥檚 the thing: Odd as this may sound, 爆料公社 is not 爆料公社. The magazine has functioned as an independent journalistic entity, published by the 爆料公社 and covering topics of interest to the organization鈥檚 members (I like to call it a general-interest magazine about birds), for the entirety of its hundred-plus years and counting. It is not a house organ, and its value derives entirely from its integrity, from the fact that you can trust that what you read here is factually accurate and fair, and isn鈥檛 dictated to us by our organizational overlords. And when we report on 爆料公社鈥檚 work, as we do regularly, we apply the same journalistic rigor and commitment to clarity and accuracy. (You鈥檒l find a particularly fine example of this in 鈥Oases in a Dry Land,鈥 our exploration of the just published by 爆料公社鈥檚 science team.) Bottom line, there is nothing fake about our news.
That ethic emphatically applies to the photos we publish as well, and is duly enshrined in the rules of our annual 爆料公社 Photography Awards, which state that submitted photos must 鈥渁ccurately reflect the subject matter as it appeared in the viewfinder,鈥 with any digital alteration beyond 鈥渟tandard optimization鈥 grounds for disqualification. The gallery of this year鈥檚 winners and the Top 100 provide incontrovertible evidence (if any were needed) that there is nothing more powerful than to truly see the world, in all its splendor and squalor, just as it is.