Last updated: 13 June 2026
Owner: Stephen Pettitt – Head of Content
1. Purpose and scope
This policy governs all editorial output produced by Forever Sports Media across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X,MyPicks and Forever Boks platforms, including watchalongs, live commentary, press conference coverage, match analysis, player ratings, news reporting and fan/stadium content.
It exists to do two things at once: protect the passionate, fan-first, personality-driven format that makes our content distinctive, and hold that content to standards of truthfulness, fairness and accountability recognised by South African press regulation and international sports media bodies. These are not in tension. Passion of tone is a format choice; accuracy and fairness are non-negotiable regardless of format.
This policy applies to all presenters, hosts, commentators, freelancers, editors and contributors producing content under the Forever Sports Media brand.
2. Our editorial position: passionate, not neutral-toned — but never dishonest
2.1 Forever Sports Media is built on fan-perspective sports media. Our watchalongs, commentary and reaction content are hosted by people with genuine allegiances, and we do not require hosts to fake neutrality of tone.
2.2 What we do require, regardless of a host’s allegiance or the emotional register of a segment, is:
- Factual accuracy. Scorelines, incidents, rules, player identities, statistics and events are reported correctly. Passion of delivery never justifies getting the facts wrong.
- Truthful framing. A host can be emotionally partisan about outcome while being straight about what actually happened. Celebrating a moment that went your team’s way is fine; distorting the moment to align with an agenda is not.
- No deliberate distortion. We do not selectively edit, mischaracterise, or omit material facts in a way designed to mislead the audience about what occurred, who was responsible, or why.
- Corrections when we get it wrong. Emotional reaction in the moment does not exempt us from correcting a factual error once known (see Section 7).
2.3 In short: our commitment is to fair and truthful commentary delivered with genuine passion, not to false neutrality. Bias of allegiance is disclosed by format and obvious to the audience; bias of fact is not permitted.
3. Format-specific guidance
3.1 Live commentary & match coverage
- Hosts may openly support a team and react accordingly. This is understood by the audience as the format and does not need a disclaimer beyond what’s already implicit in the show’s premise.
- Hosts must not knowingly misstate facts about the match (score, cards, injuries, rule interpretations) even in the heat of the moment. Where a host gets something wrong live, it should be corrected on-air as soon as it’s known, and in the video description/pinned comment if the video remains up afterwards.
- Criticism of the opposing team, officials, or even the host’s own team is accepted within an appropriate framework — but must stick to conduct, performance and decisions, not veer into the discriminatory territory covered in Section 4.
3.2 Match analysis, news and player ratings
- These formats carry a higher expectation of balance than live commentary or coverage, since they are presented as analysis rather than pure fan reaction. Player ratings and analysis should be grounded in observable performance, not settled by allegiance.
- Where a host’s known allegiance could reasonably be expected to colour an analysis piece (e.g. rating players from their own supported team), this is acceptable practice in sports media generally, provided the reasoning behind ratings/analysis is stated and defensible, not just asserted.
3.3 Press conferences and accredited coverage
- Content from press conferences and accredited access is reported accurately and in context. Quotes are not edited, clipped or spliced in a way that changes their meaning.
- Access gained through accreditation is never used as leverage to go easier on a federation, club or individual, and is never withdrawn or granted contingent on favourable coverage from our side (see also Section 6 on conflicts of interest).
3.4 MyPicks and predictions
- Predictions and fan picks are presented as exactly that — predictions and opinion, not factual claims or guaranteed outcomes.
- MyPicks content is kept editorially independent of any betting or gambling partnership (see the Partnerships & Disclosure Policy).
4. Language standards
4.1 Forever Sports Media’s YouTube-first, fan-community format allows for colourful, informal and strong language, consistent with platform norms and age-appropriate content settings. Hosts are not required to sanitise passionate reaction into corporate-neutral phrasing.
4.2 The following is never permitted, in any format, regardless of tone or heat of the moment:
- Discriminatory language or slurs relating to race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic.
- Content that incites hatred or violence against a person or group on the above grounds.
- Harassment or personal abuse directed at players, officials, fans or colleagues that goes beyond critique of performance or conduct into attacks on someone’s identity or character.
4.3 Hosts are individually responsible for their own language on air, and repeated or serious breaches of 4.2 are treated as a conduct matter, not a style note.
4.4 Moderation of comments and user-generated content on our platforms follows a published UGC policy consistent with the South African Constitution (see Section 8).
5. Sourcing and verification
5.1 Factual claims — scorelines, injury news, transfer news, disciplinary rulings, statistics — are verified against official sources (federation statements, official broadcasters, credentialed reporting) before being reported as fact, distinct from speculation or rumour.
5.2 Speculation, rumour and fan theory are labelled as such and not presented as confirmed fact.
5.3 Where we report information from a single source that has not been independently confirmed, this is stated (e.g. “according to [source], unconfirmed”).
6. Independence and conflicts of interest
6.1 Commercial partnerships and accreditation relationships do not influence editorial coverage. See the Forever Sports Media Partnerships & Disclosure Policy for full detail on sponsorship separation, betting content, and hospitality/travel disclosure.
6.2 Where a host, presenter or contributor has a personal, financial or family connection to a team, player or organisation being covered beyond ordinary fan allegiance (e.g. paid work, sponsorship, family relationship), this is disclosed either on-air or in the video description.
7. Corrections and accountability
7.1 Forever Sports Media corrects factual errors promptly once identified, regardless of the format the error occurred in.
7.2 Corrections are made:
- On-air/on-camera where the error is identified during a live or ongoing segment.
- Via a pinned comment, community post, or description edit where the content has already been published.
- With a follow-up video or segment where the error is significant enough to warrant one.
7.3 Complaints regarding accuracy, fairness or conduct can be submitted to editor@foreversportsmedia.com and are reviewed by Stephen Pettitt (Head of Content).
8. User-generated content
8.1 Comments and submissions on platforms we control are governed by a published UGC policy consistent with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
8.2 UGC does not necessarily reflect the editorial views of Forever Sports Media, and prohibited content (as defined in our UGC policy) may be removed at our discretion.
9. Review
This policy is reviewed annually and whenever new formats, platforms or content types are introduced. Any host or contributor may raise concerns about how this policy applies to a specific format via editor@foreversportsmedia.com.