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Requesting The Removal Of A News Story From Proshare – Process

Products & Services	19244 VIEWS
Products & Services
19244 VIEWS

Sunday, July 29, 2018 / 11.24AM / By Editorial Board

As a company, while we recognize that there may arise occasions where readers, clients, patrons and partners will request for certain news posts to be removed, Proshare reiterates its commitment to safeguarding its reputation built through a conscious best practice effort in putting out news stories, article or analysis with such consistency, that it rarely has the need to remove a story.

We might update one (and indicate such by way of an update in the post), BUT taking a story down is a very serious matter.

Our best works are our archives and in the course of fulfilling our information provider/ publishing mandate; we chronicle bad and good happenings, report big news and small ones in such a way as to reflect our communities and the times; all in a bid to help the market and public have access to teachable moments. This we consider as crucial to the confidence matrix in the market-public relationship we serve.

Our job as an information hub is to document history, report happenings in the business, finance and economic landscape and not erase it. It is why we take all those steps to sign service level agreements (SLA), partnership publishing agreements, emphasize acknowledgments, attributions and properly linked sources. It is why we push ourselves to get it right the first time.

Our works are not restricted to operators, regulators and investors but to policy makers, researchers, academics and historians. We consciously publish online whilst making print copies of materials authored by us available at the National Library, duly documented and referenced accordingly to ensure that they become public records.

Thus, removing information that report the occurrences in the public arena of the regulators, courts and markets, we believe; sets a practice precedent and smacks of elitist censorship; if not self-censorship on our part. It is something that goes to the core of our reason for being. Our past experiences in this area, and operating in the Nigerian environment has provided useful lessons in reaching this conclusion.

It is important therefore that we establish rules around the subject as a component of our practice, editorial guide and include/share same as part of our terms and conditions of service (T&C).

Our editorial guide, being a document subject to best practice review of which this forms a part, is designed to eliminate discretionary practices and ensure that our standard operating practice recognizes changing dynamics in the operating environment such as governance practices, standards, privacy rights, data policy regulations, market regulatory rules, online publishing practices, market instructions and public interest.

Conditions Precedent and Triggering Removal Requests

The news story, post and report summary would have to be wildly inaccurate in fact and evidence, misidentify a person resulting in damage to one’s reputation, or endanger a life or going concern of a company (with evidence).

Internally, where material facts are discovered by any of our teams or brought to our attention and validated; leading to an update as a first recourse/consideration (the disclosure of which must be included in a footnote stating when, what, why and where the revision took place).

Where this will materially not resolve the issue/request received or observed; an escalation into the removal phase must be initiated internally.

The Process (Without Prejudice)

Receive a formal notification from the entity(ies) involved asking for it to be removed stating reasons (because of a resolution or a potential harm to reputation or any of the reason advanced above);
Conduct a validation of reasons advanced based on facts and evidence;
Contact initiating source by call, text, mail, letter and visit to establish and corroborate facts adduced or discovered (especially for regulators and SLA/partner publishing/support authors);
Make a determination expediently as provided for and act accordingly; and
Without admitting or denying anything ; take steps to act on the evidence and cause to be issued a public notice on decision taken, after communicating with the reporting entity.

If subject post was authored by us, a determination as to the public interest and the market interest served in removing or retaining it must be made and our position and reasons made clear.

The final decision on any of the above scenarios will be made via a concurrence between the Chief Business & Markets Officer and the Managing Editor (or in his/her absence, the Director of Research); who then gives a formal editorial approval for the Head of IT/COO to govern accordingly.

The restriction, suspension or removal of a news post should, does, will not preclude and definitely not deny the company of availing itself the opportunity to discharge its interest(s) which may include, but not limited to, making the information available in an acceptable format in the ‘Market Place’.

In effecting above governance requirement, the following must take place:

Screenshot taken pre, during and after removal.
Contents and exchanges, including internal memos ‘as is’ curated in a “File Note” and stored electronically.
Copies made and filed in a content restriction/removal file containing the documentations (discussed above) for records purposes.
Where it involves materials submitted to the National Library, a new set of materials must be produced and all necessary steps taken to replace, substitute and otherwise represent the most up to date information, providing proper references to the previous edition and indicating the changes made in the new edition/post; printed and submitted accordingly.
All correspondences with requesting entity be printed and stored on file.
Formal communication of removal is sent to the requesting authority by the Managing Editor and placed on file.
Notify Google and other search engines of our ‘removal’ of cached story or/and link to updated new post as applicable. (if necessary).
In the case of a restriction, no further action is required except as otherwise stated below.

Pre-During & Post Removal / Restriction (without prejudice)

Conduct a post-intervention review one week after the restriction takes effect, to determine if just cause exist (on account of new information, insight and evidence) to remove such a restriction, in the joint decision of the editorial board and company management.

Contact Proshare

The Managing Editor

Proshare Nigeria

The Upper Room

Plot 590b, Lekan Asuni Close, Omole Phase 2, Isheri LG, Lagos. P. O. Box 18782, Ikeja, Lagos State. General E-mail: contact@proshareng.com E-mail: 0700PROSHARE

Function Heads

· Chief Operating Officer - coo@proshareng.com

· Chief Business & Markets - market@proshareng.com

· Director of Research - research@proshareng.com

· Managing Editor - content@proshareng.com

· WebTV Services – news@proshareng.com