The Trust Project (www.thetrustproject.org) is an international consortium of news organisations collaborating to create standards of transparency in journalism with the goal of building a more trustworthy and trusted press. Led by award-winning journalist Sally Lehrman, it is hosted by Santa Clara University's Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics. Search engines and social media platforms, which have become important news distributors, are participating as external partners.
We apply a user-centered design process. Based on dozens of in-depth interviews with a diverse spectrum of public voices, news executives involved in the Trust Project identified and designed a system of “Trust Indicators” — that is, standardised disclosures about the news outlet, the journalist, and the commitments behind a story — to make it easy for the public to identify trustworthy news. Digital platforms, such as Google, Facebook, Bing, and Twitter can use the Trust Indicators and the machine-readable signals associated with them to surface trustworthy news to their users.
Ethics Statement
Every product is tested by our team of full-time, expert reviewers in our dedicated suite of bespoke listening rooms in the UK. Our reviews do not carry author bylines as the review is the verdict of the test team as a whole, not any one individual - this helps eliminate any personal bias. Every review is signed off by our Technical Editor before publication.
We score each product using a five-star rating system which takes into account performance, sound/picture quality, ease of use, build quality and features. A £500 product will be rated against similarly priced products in the same category, so a five-star product at £500 is not necessarily comparable to a five-star product at £2000.
We pride ourselves on our editorial independence and integrity, and never show reviews to manufacturers or their PR representatives prior to publication. Advertising in no way influences which products we review, or our verdicts on them.
Diversity Policy
What Hi-Fi? takes the inclusiveness of its journalism seriously. We will not tolerate discrimination based on race, class, generation, sexuality, gender or geography in anything we publish. Reflecting these differences in our reporting leads to better, more nuanced coverage, and a better-informed community. Being an equal opportunities employer is vital to our success, working with talented minds from all corners of the community. In line with that aim, we want, and work hard to ensure, diversity in our management and editorial staff.
Corrections Policy and Practice
What Hi-Fi? is committed to letting you know when an error has been made, the nature of the error and the correct information, as quickly as possible.
That commitment to transparency applies to errors small and large, to short news summaries as well as reviews: if an error of fact is pointed out to us, we will correct it as quickly as possible.
If you think you've spotted an error, drop us a line at whathifi@futurenet.com.
Ownership Structure
What Hi-Fi? is owned by Future Plc, a publicly quoted international media group and leading digital publisher, and is funded primarily through advertising, magazine sales and affiliate revenues generated from our retail price comparison engine. First set up with one magazine in 1985, Future today has a portfolio of more than 80 brands in technology, gaming, entertainment, music and leisure. It has offices in Bath, London, New York, Sydney, Bromsgrove and Bournemouth and employs around 600 staff.
We are proud of the brand's rich journalistic history, and of retaining our journalistic integrity. If a story on What Hi-Fi? has commercial involvement, you can be sure that it will say so clearly on the page by being labelled ‘promoted’ or ‘sponsored’. We are not in the business of deceiving you.
If you see the word Promoted or Sponsored on an article it means one of the following things:
Promoted: These are articles written in What Hi-Fi?’s style, and carry overt product messaging from a clearly marked sponsor. They are advertising content, but they will still be a great read.
Sponsored: These are articles that have been made possible by a commercial sponsor, but that are written by or commissioned by What Hi-Fi?’s editorial team and where the commercial sponsor has no control over or sign-off on the final article. There might be boxouts linking to products made by the sponsor, but they will be clearly marked, and the article itself won't contain any overt product messaging.
Mission Statement with Coverage Priorities
What Hi-Fi? is a globally recognised consumer buying guide with a 42-year heritage dedicated to helping its readers buy the best home entertainment products for their budget. We are passionate about movies and music, and test everything on a value-for-money as well as a performance basis.
Verification/Fact-checking Standards
What Hi-Fi? commits to do its best to publish accurate information. We take many steps to ensure accuracy: we investigate manufacturers’ claims with scepticism; undertake all our own product testing; question assumptions; challenge conventional wisdom; confirm information with industry experts; and seek to corroborate what sources tell us by talking with other informed people or consulting documents.
We verify content, such as technical terms, stats etc, against source documents or make clear who is providing the information. We carry out testing of all products in-house, in our own suite of listening rooms, using our own team of expert reviewers. We stand by the information we publish as accurate, and if it’s not, we will change it as quickly as possible and be transparent with our readers about the nature of the error.
We guide our journalists to ask the following questions when double-checking information in a quest for the truth:
- Is it technically accurate?
- How do you know?
- How can you be sure?
- Where is the evidence?
- Who is the source, and how does the source know?
- What is the supporting documentation?
We welcome feedback from our readers and sources regarding the information that we publish. You can email us at whathifi@futurenet.com.
