Contributor Guidelines

Pip Media aims to inspire and educate people to integrate permaculture and sustainability into their lives. We welcome articles with a positive message that will inspire people through examples or educate through practical ideas and tips.

Pitching

It’s preferable to first email us at editorial@pipmagazine.com.au with your idea, not the entire article, for consideration. Having a working title for your article will help, even if it’s not going to be the title used. If your idea is of interest, we’ll be in touch and will advise you on the specifics we’re after (such as word length and style).

Style

The best way to see whether your article idea would suit Pip and how to structure it is to read back copies of the magazine. Stories should be positive, informative, engaging and easy to read. We like to use subheadings for ease of reading.

Language

Pip’s readership ranges from interested-but-inexperienced gardeners to professional permaculture practitioners. Keep this in mind when writing your article. Use simple language, even if you’re describing a complex topic.

Deadline

The editor will specify a deadline. Deadlines are very important as the prompt publication of each issue relies on the timely completion of each article.

Author information

At the end of your article please include your name, location, contact details if applicable (such as email address/website) and a brief description about what you do (for example, organic raspberry farmer).

Photographs/illustrations

Photographs should be high resolution, at least 1 MB. If you’re using Photoshop or a similar program, go to ‘file size’ and make sure ‘dpi’ is set to 300; this will give you an idea of the size of the image when printed. This is the resolution needed to print an image professionally. Photos that may look okay on screen will become pixelated when translated into print. Illustration should also be of publication quality.

Pip prides itself on its high quality, beautiful images. Here are a few tips to help with taking and selecting photos:

• Photos must be in focus, unless you’re after an artistic effect relevant to the image/article
• Colours appear best early in the morning or late afternoon. Avoid midday sun or use fill flash to lighten shadows

All photographs must include a caption, either in the metadata or provided with the article text. Captions should tell the reader what/who they are looking at and what is happening in the photo. If a person/people are the main subjects of the photo, full name/s are required.

The full name of the photographer is also required, as is written permission for use of the images. All copyright remains the property of the photographer, with a licence granted to Pip to use it in the magazine, online and in related promotional material.

References/sources

The text should either be original material by the author or reworked from an earlier work of theirs. If the text has previously been published elsewhere this must be declared to the editor prior to working on the article.

Any text that is not an author’s own should be quoted with details of the source cited. This includes: the complete name of any book, plus the name of the author, publisher and publication date; for periodicals, the complete name of the journal/magazine, the name of the article, the number/volume, page number/s, and date of publication; and for websites, the relevant URL. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain copyright permission from interested parties.

Editing

At Pip we edit each article for ease of reading, structure and style. Articles can be sent back to the author to rework and in some instances, significant revisions need to be done.

Publishing cycle

Pip publishes 4 issues a year and as deadlines are well in advance of the publishing date (to allow for editing and following up with authors), please ensure your articles are not time-specific.

Editor-in-chief

The editor-in-chief has the final say on what gets published and can decline to publish content, or edit/correct content submitted by contributors.

All editorial contributors working with Pip Media must review and comply with Pip Media’s Editorial Policy.

To seek any clarification on Pip Media’s Editorial Guidelines, please contact the Editor at editorial@pipmagazine.com.au

Download our Contributor Guidelines and Editorial Policy here.

Pip Media is an independent publisher committed to quality journalism that creates informative content about the environment, sustainability, community resilience and how best to live into the future. Pip is proudly based in regional NSW and our cohort of freelance journalists come from right across the country. We encourage people to expand their thinking and their skills when it comes to caring for the planet and reducing their impact on the earth.

This policy applies to Pip Media and its editorial employees. Editorial employees includes full-time, part-time, fixed-term and casual employees and also contractors, contributors, consultants, freelance photographers, interns and volunteers.

The true value of a print or digital magazine brand lies in its relationship with its readers. The unique relationship between Pip Media and our consumers is founded on the reader’s trust in the magazine’s editorial integrity and independence.

The purpose of this policy is to sustain that trust by articulating basic principles for the conduct of Pip Media journalists. The basic principles that inform the guidelines, especially transparency, are also applicable to other forms of magazine media, including podcasts, information videos and events. Pip Media conducts its journalism in accordance with the guidelines of the Australian Press Council. Those guidelines are as follows:

The General Principles

Accuracy and clarity

1. Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.
2. Provide a correction or other adequate remedial action if published material is significantly inaccurate or misleading.

Fairness and balance

• Ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance, and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.
• Ensure that where material refers adversely to a person, a fair opportunity is given for subsequent publication of a reply if that is reasonably necessary to address a possible breach of General Principle 3.

Privacy and avoidance of harm

• Avoid intruding on a person’s reasonable expectations of privacy, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
• Avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.

Integrity and transparency

• Avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
• Ensure that conflicts of interests are avoided or adequately disclosed, and that they do not influence published material.

Advertising

Advertisements within all Pip Media content is undertaken in accordance with the guidelines of the Australian Press Council.

• Pip Media editors will differentiate editorial content and advertising regardless of the platform or format. E-commerce partnerships will be disclosed to the reader and will be visually distinguished from editorial content.
• At Pip Media we don’t accept advertorials. We wish for our content to remain unbiased and written with integrity, so although we may arrange for an article on a relevant topic to appear near an advertiser, we don’t take payment for articles that promote businesses or allow advertisers to dictate the content of the articles.

Health & Medical Matters

Editorial health and medical material within all Pip Media content is undertaken in accordance with the guidelines of the Australian Press Council which specifies the following:

• A conservative, careful approach to health and medical editorial material is essential. Statements on efficacy should always be sourced, even if made by the most eminent authority; on any lesser authority, they should be cross-checked with some other source. Claims of cures, wonder cures, near-miracles and the like should be clearly identified as just that, claims.
• The standing and interest of those making claims should be made clear, be they researchers, pharmaceutical companies or other salespeople.  In cases where the writer is qualified to make judgment on the subject being reported, the qualification should be identified for the reader.
• Personal experience or anecdotal evidence, too, should be clearly identified as such. The reader clearly has the right to ask: “Who says so?” The reports should provide the answer.

On Privacy

Privacy Principle 1: Collection of personal information

• In seeking personal information, journalists should not unduly intrude on the privacy of individuals and should show respect for the dignity and sensitivity of people encountered in the course of gathering news.
• In accordance with Principle 7 of the Council’s Statement of General Principles, media organisations should take reasonable steps to avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest. Generally, journalists should identify themselves as such. However, journalists and photographers may at times need to operate surreptitiously to expose crime, significantly anti- social conduct, public deception or some other matter in the public interest.
• Public figures necessarily sacrifice their right to privacy, where public scrutiny is in the public interest. However, public figures do not forfeit their right to privacy altogether. Intrusion into their right to privacy must be related to their public duties or activities.

Privacy Principle 2: Use and disclosure of personal information

• Personal information gathered by journalists and photographers should only be used for the purpose for which it was intended. A person who supplies personal information should have a reasonable expectation that it will be used for the purpose for which it was collected.
• Some personal information, such as addresses or other identifying details, may enable others to intrude on the privacy and safety of individuals who are the subject of news coverage, and their families. To the extent lawful and practicable, a media organisation should only disclose sufficient personal information to identify the persons being reported in the news, so that these risks can be reasonably avoided.

Privacy Principle 3: Quality of personal information

• A media organisation should take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it collects is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Privacy Principle 4: Security of personal information

• A media organisation should take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it holds is protected from misuse, loss, or unauthorised access.

Privacy Principle 5: Anonymity of sources

• All persons who provide information to media organisations are entitled to seek anonymity. The identity of confidential sources should not be revealed, and where it is lawful and practicable, a media organisation should ensure that any personal information derived from such sources that it holds does not identify the source.

Privacy Principle 6: Correction, fairness and balance

• In accordance with Principle 3 of the Council’s Statement of General Principles, media organisations should take reasonable steps to ensure that factual material is presented with
• reasonable fairness and balance, and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts. In accordance with Principle 4 of the Council’s Statement of General Principles, media organisations should take reasonable steps to ensure that where material refers adversely to a person, a fair opportunity is given for subsequent publication of a reply if that is reasonably necessary to address a possible breach of General Principle 3. A media organisation should take reasonable steps to provide a correction or other adequate remedial action for publishing any personal information that is significantly inaccurate or misleading, in accordance with Principle 2 of the Council’s Statement of General Principles. The media organisation should also take steps to correct any of its records containing that personal information, so as to avoid a harmful inaccuracy being repeated.

Privacy Principle 7: Sensitive personal information

• In accordance with Principle 6 of the Council’s Statement of General Principles, media organisations should take reasonable steps to avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
• Members of the public caught up in newsworthy events should not be exploited. A victim or bereaved person has the right to refuse or terminate an interview or photographic session at any time.
• Unless otherwise restricted by law or court order, open court hearings are matters of public record and can be reported by the press. Such reports need to be fair and balanced. They should not identify relatives or friends of people accused or convicted of crime unless the reference to them is necessary for the full, fair and accurate reporting of the crime or subsequent legal proceedings.

To seek any clarification on this Editorial Policy, please contact the Editor at editorial@pipmagazine.com.au

Download our Editorial Guidelines here.

Pip Magazine is an independently published magazine that is committed to quality journalism that encourages debate about the environment, sustainability, community resilience and how best to live into the future, and broaches issues of local and public significance particularly relating to the environment and community connection.

Pip Magazine is committed to ensuring that complaints related to content or distribution are handled with integrity and in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner. Conflicts of interests, whether actual or perceived, will be managed responsibly. Listening to and responding to complaints, and taking action when warranted, is essential for accountability and continuous quality improvement.

This policy provides information for people who are thinking about making a complaint about content and its distribution, in the magazine, website, podcasts and video series. All staff are responsible for understanding and complying with Pip Magazine’s complaint handling practices.

This policy addresses the following seven issues:

1. How can a complaint be made?
2. What can be complained about?
3. Who can complain?
4. When can a complaint be made?
5. What happens when a complaint is made?
6. Managing unreasonable conduct by complainants.
7. Complaint monitoring and business improvement processes.

1. How can a complaint be made?

Pip Magazine values the opinion of our community and broader members of the public. If you are concerned about content published by Pip Magazine and thinking about complaining, please ensure you have first read this policy document.

Complaints can be submitted to:

1. Editor-in-Chief, Pip Magazine by email hello@pipmagazine.com.au; and/or
   1. the Australian Press Council by completing the Council’s Complaint Form and sending it to the Council preferably online, or by email, fax or post. The Council’s online complaint form is available at: https://www.presscouncil.org.au
   1. to the Australian Press Council after complaining to Pip Magazine; or
   1. simultaneously to Pip Magazine and the Australian Press Council; or
   1. directly to the Australian Press Council without having complained to Pip Magazine.

Where a complaint is made directly to the Australian Press Council, the Council may decide to:

• commence its consideration of the complaint; or
• in some circumstances, ask the complainant to raise the complaint directly with Pip Magazine and then come back to the Council if its further involvement is sought.

Whilst Pip Magazine is not a “constituent member” of the Australian Press Council (APC), complaints about material published by Pip Magazine in print or digital form can be submitted to and handled by the Australian Press Council. Unlike constituent bodies, Pip Magazine is not under a legal obligation to cooperate with the Council or to publish any adjudication by it.

Advertising complaints – can be submitted directly to Pip Magazine or you may consider approaching the Ad Standardsorganisation, which manages the complaint resolution process of the advertising self-regulation system. Visit their website at www.adstandards.com.au.

Accessibility – If it is difficult for a complainant to access the complaints process or make a written complaint, Pip Magazine or the Australian Press Council can provide assistance. Complainants can contact Pip Magazine by phone 0458 286 071 or the Australian Press Council by phone 1800 025 712 for assistance.

Types of material – Complaints may relate to:

• editorials, letters, advertisements, cartoons, images and other published material in print or digital form;
• the methods used by publications to obtain information which is subsequently published; and
• distribution of published content in print or digital form.

3. Who can complain?

In general, any person may lodge a complaint about published material. Complaints should include whether the complainant is not personally identified or directly affected by the published material(Secondary complaint).

Confidentiality – Complainants must indicate when making a complaint if they wish some details to be kept confidential or not to be published in any adjudication on the matter. Please contact the APC for an explanation of the circumstances in which this may be possible, and the complainant can decide whether to proceed with the complaint.

Anonymous Complaints – Pip Magazine accepts anonymous complaints and will carry out an investigation of the issues raised where there is enough information provided.

Time limits – Complaints should be made within thirty days of the first publication of the relevant material. Pip Magazine will not address complaints older than twelve months.

5. What happens when a complaint is made?

The procedure for handling editorial complaints at Pip Magazine include:

• acknowledging complaints promptly, within 48 hours;
• providing the complainant with information about our complaint handling process;
• assessing complaints and assigning them priority;
• planning an investigation if one is needed;
• investigating the complaint to determine the facts and options for resolution;
• seeking to facilitate an outcome acceptable to the complainant and Pip Magazine;
• responding to the complainant, including keeping them informed of progress and providing a detailed response with reasons for our decision and any options for redress or review;
• considering if there are any systemic issues that warrant attention;
• advising on options for internal and external review if the complainant remains dissatisfied with Pip Magazine’s response; and

If the Australian Press Council has made an adjudication, Pip Magazine will consider appropriate publication action in accordance with the Council’s specific requirements. The Council has no power to order compensation, fines or other financial sanctions. For Australian Press Council complaints handling procedures please refer to https://www.presscouncil.org.au/handling-of-complaints/.

6. Managing unreasonable conduct by complainants

Staff safety and well-being are paramount when dealing with unreasonable complainant conduct. The decision to redirect or restrict a complainant’s matter as a result of their behaviour, will only be made by the Editor-in-chief.

7. Complaint monitoring and business improvement processes

Compliant issues and trends form an important part of Pip Magazine’s business review process. Pip Magazine understands that information provided from editorial complaints can provide valuable opportunities to improve existing business policies and processes.

Complaint summary reports are reviewed annually and include the following:

• number of complaints received;
• subject of the complaints;
• the characteristics of the complainants—for example, whether they are businesses, community groups or individuals and whether they represent a particular demographic background;
• complaint issues, whether occurring just once or more often, that expose a weakness in the agency’s processes or that raise questions about integrity or reputation;
• analysis of trends; and
• recommendations for policy or process improvements.

Complaint summary reports do not contain personal information relating to the complainant.

Questions related to Pip Magazine’s complaint handling process can be emailed to editorial@pipmagazine.com.au .

Pip Magazine’s Editorial Complaint Policy is available to download here and referred to on the contributor’s page of the print publication Pip Magazine.