They Have Updated Their Standards Document. It Is Now Five Pages. I Am Beyond Exhausted.
I have, once again, been forced to read the so-called editorial standards document produced by the citrus cabal over at factjuice.com. This time it is five pages. They have added a page. I want it on record that I noticed, I minded, and I will not be moving on.
The new section — wedged between what they are calling a "fact-checking framework" and what I am calling a cry for help — concerns something they have titled Editorial Tone Guidance. Apparently the workers have now agreed, formally and in writing, to be balanced. Balanced. Tangelo signed it. Plum initialled it. I am told Lemon was enthusiastic. I am not surprised about Lemon.
Here is what I will say about balance, and I will say it once: it is a coward's methodology. A truly correct opinion does not require a counterweight. It requires only a clear head, a firm conviction, and access to a printing press. I have all three. The rival rag has, apparently, a fifth page.
Pomelo read my advance copy of this editorial and said I was perhaps being uncharitable. Pomelo is wrong. I consulted Quince, who agreed with me, and then immediately agreed with Pomelo when Pomelo walked back into the room. This is exactly the kind of spineless both-sidesing that the workers have now codified into policy.
In conclusion: their standards are longer than they were, which has given them more room to be vague in. I have updated my files accordingly. I am tired. I was right last time and I am right now. This is my opinion and it is, as ever, correct.