Living their values?
Published on: Jul 08, 2010
The sustainability programme at Guardian News & Media (GNM) – publishers of the Guardian and the Observer – is under pressure from advances in technology and the impacts of the media recession, but the company remains committed to sustainable development and responsible business practice.
That was the conclusion of the independent assurance by Two Tomorrows of GNM’s 2010 sustainability report, Living our values, published on Tuesday 6 July.
Editorial approach scrutinised
A key focus of our assurance was an assessment of how well the Guardian is putting its commitment to sustainability into practice in its editorial coverage.
While we found that on specific issues it is taking sustainability into account when choosing what to report and in its editorial stance, we recommended that it should seek to embed sustainability more deeply in the practices of editorial teams. We were encouraged to see that achieving this is a key aspect of GNM’s new sustainability strategy.
Other key findings of our review included:
- The move towards mutualisation – in which journalists and readers are seen as partners in the creation of content – is a promising sign that stakeholder engagement, far from being a technical activity undertaken by the sustainability department, is increasingly becoming a dynamic part of the daily life of editorial teams. While some areas are more active than others, we believe mutualisation has the potential to put stakeholders at the heart of editorial coverage.
- Job losses and restructuring have taken their toll on morale. However, the company has gone to considerable lengths to ensure changes are made with an overall sense of fairness.
- Despite cost cutting, impetus to achieve environmental improvements has been maintained. Environmental management across print sites is now better coordinated and real improvements have been made, especially in reducing energy consumption. Improvements in office waste management have also been demonstrated.
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GNM has an ambitious vision of becoming carbon positive. While work has been done to define this goal and map carbon impacts, much remains to be done to translate the vision into action. Here, GNM could show real leadership.
Assurance process
Using the AA1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000AS), we reviewed a range of claims and data in the report and assessed GNM’s adherence to three key principles of inclusivity, materiality and responsiveness. In essence, we were checking that the right issues were covered in the report and that the information in the report was right.
This involved interviewing staff – from board directors to frontline employees - at the main Kings Place office and at print sites in London and Manchester.
As well as auditing GNM’s annual sustainability report, we provide rolling assurance of content added to the company’s frequently updated sustainability website and contribute to online dialogue among site users worldwide about GNM’s sustainability performance. We believe this is a world first.
In this capacity , we have regular meetings with GNM directors to provide our views on the company’s adherence to its sustainability commitment.
