The mission of Re-Check is to practice and promote investigative journalism in the public interest, in the field of health and medicine, and to contribute to projects that are at the intersection between academic research and the dissemination of evidence-based information to a wider public. We believe in transparency and understand investigative journalism as a watchdog of democracy and as a work in the public interest. We are committed to the right of the public to truth and equity, and work on exposing injustice, flawed messages and hidden bias. All of the values stated here, and the rules set out here, are intended to contribute to that mission. Integrity is the cornerstone of Re-Check. Our content must be accurate, thorough, complete and fair. We apply to our work the journalistic ethics as described by the Swiss Declaration of the Duties and Rights of the Journalist.

Information submitted to Re-Check will be processed and analyzed by journalists registered with the Swiss Professional Register (PR), who thus apply to their work journalistic ethics (Swiss Declaration of the Duties and Rights of the Journalist). This Code of ethics in journalism will be the basis to determine whether or not the information will be published and if so, in what form. Information will be accordingly disseminated in an ethical and not uncontrolled manner.

Our credibility is built on honest, accurate, fair and thorough investigative journalism. We take great care to verify our work and our analyses represent our best independent judgment. We strive to identify all the sources of our information, shielding them with anonymity only when they insist upon it and when they provide vital information, not opinion or speculation, and when there is no other way to obtain that information. To the extent that we can, we identify in our stories any important bias a source may have. If the story hinges on documents, we describe how the documents were obtained. We take all challenges to the integrity of our reports seriously and when mistakes are made, they will be promptly corrected and acknowledged in a timely, explicit, complete, and transparent manner. When we cannot corroborate information, we will say so.

We do not misidentify or misrepresent ourselves to get a story. We do not pay for interviews. We do not plagiarize. Whenever we portray someone in a negative light, we make a real effort to obtain a response from that person. We give people and organisations a reasonable amount of time to get back to us before we publish. All sources will be treated with courtesy and respect. We are committed to using special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.

Re-Check does not contribute, directly or indirectly, to political campaigns or to political parties or groups seeking to raise money for political campaigns or parties. We do not work on stories, projects, or initiatives with which we have a personal connection, vested interest or financial interest. We disclose any relationships with partners or funders that might appear to influence our coverage. We strive to explain to our audience the process of building our stories and provide raw data and documentation for public consumption.

Re-Check does not accept any kind of funding, direct or indirect, by corporations, organisations and individuals that pursue an agenda in the field of health and medicine. We do not accept advertising on our website. We commit to transparently declare any conflict of interest we might have regarding a specific project or publication. Donations above 1’500 Swiss Francs will be declared in our end-of-the year financial statement that will be published on our website. We reserve the right to refuse and/or wire back any donations received through PayPal, without having to offer explanations as why so. Donations will be used to: a) maintain Re-Check website; b) pay for costs related to Re-Check activities, the like of: travel costs, stationary, marketing material (i.e. stickers, flyers), IT (hardware, software licenses, domain registration fees); c) fees for research, graphic design, mapping technical support, and other works necessary for Re-Check productions. All costs and fees distributed that amount to more than 500 Swiss Francs will be declared in our end-of-the year financial statement.

Re-Check will address all civil questions that will be asked through our website or our social media accounts. We won’t engage with users whose goal is slander, libel and defamation.

Re-Check relies on the advice of an International Advisory Board. It consists of individuals that are professional investigative journalists, academics, patient’s safety advocates. The International Advisory Board is not responsible for Re-Check website content, nor it responds legally for any of Re-Check activities. Its members have no conflicts of interest in the field of health and medicine and do advise Re-Check pro bono.