When communicating with our public audiences, we strive to get the message across in the clearest way possible. All written media should employ consistent language and style of grammar, capitalisation and preferred spelling. When preparing written communications, you should keep the following in mind:
The Greenpeace voice
- Our language is warm, friendly and inclusive.
- Our tone is determined, driven, bold, and authoritative.
- We use the word crew when we are referring to our staff, volunteers, activists and the vast numbers of people who share our vision.
- We have a responsibility to tell bold new stories that show a different kind of future is possible. We have created this guide to the Seven Shifts to assist you in framing your content.
Greenpeace activists paint the message “Reef in Danger” on the side of a coal ship – the Panamanian-flagged Chou San, berthed at Gladstone RG Tanna Coal Terminal as a UNESCO team inspect the harbour. © Tom Jefferson / Greenpeace
References to Greenpeace
- In communications, we use a personal tone to create a genuine sense of ‘to’ and ‘from’. You can refer to Greenpeace using first-person pronouns, such as ‘we’ and ‘our’.
- Avoid using formal statements like ‘Greenpeace believes…’ or ‘The organisation has stated…’
- Use ‘Greenpeace Australia Pacific’ if it’s necessary to differentiate from other Greenpeace offices or Greenpeace International.
- Do not use internal jargon or acronyms like GPI, GPAP, WCPFC, NRO etc.
Capitalisation
- We use minimal capitalisation in our written communications.
- Capitals should only be used for proper nouns, proper names, organisational names, job titles, nationalities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
- Headlines in print and online publications also follow this convention.
