Agência Mural

Agência Mural's mission is to minimize information gaps and contribute to the deconstruction of stereotypes about the peripheries of Greater São Paulo. It was founded to give voice to the communities in the outskirts of São Paulo who are underrepresented in the media. Instead, by using journalists who live or have lived in these communities, it focuses on the realities of areas far from economic centers in large urban areas and highlights its cultural, social, political and economic initiatives. It aims to make communication about these areas more precise and objective, and therefore more informative. 

Agência Mural’s ethics policies are grounded in its founding mission to bring underrepresented voices of metropolitan São Paulo to light and to counter the stereotypes of those groups often seen in mainstream media. It has 10 principles for its journalists, including using nonjudgmental language, avoiding sensationalism and clichés, being transparent by clearly identifying sources and using attribution, not plagiarizing or having any conflicts of interest, not having an agenda or trying to prove a thesis, representing the diversity and depth of the communities it covers and living or having lived in the coverage areas.

Agência Mural is an independent nonprofit news organization. It raises funds from grants and donations; it also partners with local newspapers and television stations to produce original news content.

Agência Mural was founded to bring diverse voices to São Paulo's media landscape. Its network of correspondents live or grew up in neighborhoods in 36 districts and more than 17 cities in the São Paulo metropolitan region; are between ages 19 and 60; and are from different faiths and religions, ethnicities and races, genders and sexual orientations; and have different economic backgrounds, training and education. 

If any errors are found by the staff or readers, under its policy, the editors are required to: recheck and correct them on the same day errors are identified; insert a note entitled “Corrigimos” on the text page with the correction, date and time of the change; and republish the article on social media with a notice of correction. Readers can report corrections by clicking on the “report error” button on individual article pages or completing a form found on the policy page. 

Agência Mural's policy is to only use anonymous sources as a last resort. Correspondents must accept requests for anonymity when the person is at risk of suffering personal or professional consequences or when their safety is at risk. The story must include the circumstances and the reason why the source was not identified, and this must be discussed in advance with the editors.