Ethics and Policies

For the most part, I adhere to a general journalistic creed. But, in writing Portraits, I sometimes have to make decisions as I go that might diverge from or elevate my work from traditional media practices. I’ll denote those decisions here as I can.

If you have questions or complaints about how I covered a story or why I wrote something, you might find the answer here.

Privacy.

I’m not writing about celebrities, public figures, or politicians. Or if I do, I won’t be covering their public personas, but their personal lives. In these portrayals of people, I will use their first names only and limit identifying information, such as location, etc.

I have also made in this first series deliberate exclusions. This is ultimately decided by what is relevant to the story, but it also comes down to a couple of other issues: One being that I don’t have the right to include other people’s stories. There have been peripheral “characters,” if you will, that I have not named, or have left vague. The other being that sometimes a person doesn’t want something written about. I want to respect that. What I choose to write is just as important as what I don’t write.

That’s not to hide the truth but because…

This is not your story.

Or mine. I fully understand that the stories I write and the examples I give are one-sided and won’t apply to everyone. For example, in “The Bride Wore Plaid,” I know that my parents are a white, cisgender couple. Their story won’t be representative of everyone’s, but I do try to include what might be relevant to most people, without detracting from the actual story.

As you read these Portraits, please keep in mind that not all of the stories will be indicative or representative of everyone.

In journalism, we hear a lot about “telling the other side.” But to keep these Portraits from running into the tens of thousands word count, and to make sure I’m focusing on the individuals I’m interviewing, I am deliberately telling the story according to one person’s perspective. It’s not just the word count though. I hope that as I write more Portraits, a more universal truth will start to come out from the collective. I also feel that in the past several decades we have been seeing a “delegitimizing” of a person’s real, lived, or perceived experiences.

These Portraits are my small attempt to give people their voices back.

But what I won’t compromise on is:

Facts.

In “The Bride Wore Plaid,” I went to great lengths to find the weather reports and data for the day my parents got married. From snowfall to forecasts, etc. And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy to find specific numbers for a small town. But I will always work to find the right information. And even though I may only attribute the data to one source, I do also cross-check what I find against at least three other sources when I can, to try to tell the most accurate story possible. But the reality is that when I’m reporting stories you can’t find anywhere else, occasionally, I do have to trust people at their word.

No comment.

I’ve disabled comments on my website. I only get a few comments anyway, but I believe comments are where thoughtful conversation ends. You’re free (and encouraged) to share Portraits via social media, emails, etc., and include your comments there (thoughtfully and tastefully, I hope). But I’m old-fashioned. You read a newspaper article. You talk to people about it. Share it with friends and family. But you don’t get to spew off about a topic without thinking about it first.

Corrections and clarifications.

If you have information that you feel should be included, clarified, or corrected in any of these Portraits, please contact me directly. I’ll make any needed adjustments and create a policy around that, too.

Email: contact@peggyperdue.com

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

First, I’d like to complicate this matter by stating I don’t think what we’re talking about here is actually Artificial Intelligence; it’s Big Data, or Large Language Model.

Now, let me simplify by saying: I don’t use it. If that changes, I’ll let you know.

Why? Because mine is original reporting on under-reported stories. It can’t steal what’s not been created.

I’m not avoiding the technology because I’m a Luddite, nor am I one of those people who cried “AI is the end of human civilization,” but because I’ve taken several courses on the subject, and (1) it is irrelevant for most of my work; (2) even lighthearted use of some apps can jeopardize privacy and security; and (3) there are too many variables and issues around ethical, privacy, copyright, reliability, accountability, bias, hallucinatory, quality, and other considerations.