Explaining Equalizing
There are a lot of news sources out there. Some are big; others small. A few have existed for generations; many more are newer than your toothbrush. None are quite like the DC Equalizer.
Why? Because, on top of our two-pronged approach to who reports the news (which gives the public equal footing on our site), we have three core principles that drive what news we cover.
EQUALIZER #1 - Balancing Coverage
Like the sound equipment that inspired our name, the Equalizer exists to fine tune frequencies. Specifically, we strive to augment the volume of previously muffled opinions while simultaneously reducing unwanted noise caused by a persistently distorted community feedback loop. In so doing, we hope to accomplish our main mission: giving a voice to the voiceless.
You should know upfront that many of our articles will attempt to give a platform to people that traditional media has cast aside. Bear in mind that marginalized individuals come in many forms: from legitimate environmentalists being railroaded by greedy developers to grandparents being railroaded by purported environmentalists working in concert with those same developers.
As you can imagine, we are not going to be overly concerned with meeting some arbitrary threshold of evenhandedness; especially given how often those in power choose to ignore it themselves. So, while we won't go out of our way to exclude differences of opinion in our editorials, we won't necessarily seek them out either.
EQUALIZER #2 - Collaborating Community
Covering stories in ways no one else will is at the core of what we do. Still, it's not enough. There are only so many hours in the day for a shoestring outfit like ours to cover even a fraction of the things that matter to your community. That's where you come in.
Our hope is that the Equalizer becomes the go-to place for people to get their already published articles more coverage (and, in so doing, makes a larger audience aware of important issues). You write it up and provide us the link. We'll give it a stage to stand on. If all goes according to plan, this symbiotic relationship will bear fruit for everyone.
So we're all clear, your stories are 100% your stories. We simply provide links to things published by others elsewhere. That's it. We won't necessarily agree with all of them. We also won't extensively fact-check them with a fine-toothed comb. That said, we will make every effort to bring you the most top-notch stuff possible.
You should know that not every submission will be published on our site. To avoid diluting reader experience, we will generally refrain from posting more than one link per author per week. Furthermore, we reserve the right to pull any link for any reason and without explanation. At first blush, these policies might seem at odds with our gripes about the current media landscape. Rest assured it is nothing like the gatekeeping undertaken by traditional journalists. They do it to cement an agenda; we do it to avoid nefarious traps and accidental pitfalls. Any realistic pursuit must have constraints; our site is unfortunately limited by the chances that someone will try to get us to publish something untoward. We must retain the ability to remedy any situation that hurts the overall cause.
Similarly, as a general rule, our stories will not provide you the direct ability to comment. Comment sections inevitably devolve into places where the worst contribution destroys the preponderance of meaningful dialogue. If you want to reflect on what you have seen here, there are plenty of social media sandboxes for that. This website just isn't one of them.
EQUALIZER #3 - Exacting Justice
For some people, "Equalizer" connotes something entirely different than music or the news. Depending on your age and the type of media you consume, that word very likely brings to mind an avenging TV/movie antihero known for seeking payback on behalf of the powerless.
In many ways, that's how we see ourselves as well. Armed with just enough skills to make things uncomfortable for those in charge, we aim to make the world a better place by casting sunlight on the murkiest parts of our society. Unlike the titular fictional character, however, we don't plan to go it alone.
