Briefing: General Considerations

Introduction

vBriefings serves as a curated knowledge and advocacy platform, with each briefing reflecting the site’s overall perspective rather than individual opinions. 

To learn how to write briefings, it’s important to review existing briefings. While these docs attempt to make the conventions explicit and explain their rationale, examining actual briefings will help illustrate how those choices are applied in practice.

Something else to keep in mind: these conventions continue to evolve as the vBriefings platform develops, so elements you encounter in a particular briefing may reflect earlier practices that have since been improved or replaced with better approaches.

All briefings undergo editorial review and independent fact-checking before publication. Revision and refinement are expected parts of the process and are essential to maintaining the platform’s standards of clarity, accuracy, and credibility.

Note: See this article for technical information on editing in WordPress. Drafts may be prepared in Google Docs or Microsoft Word before being transferred into the site using WordPress. If the document follows the structure and guidelines outlined here, the transfer into this platform should be straightforward and require minimal adjustment.   

Style and Structure

We will use AP style guidelines going forward, except for citations, which we handle using a hybrid MLA approach. We want the writing to feel clear, natural, and easy to use in real conversations—not dense or overly formal. AP helps with that by favoring short, straightforward sentences, familiar wording, and a structure that puts the most important ideas up front.

At the same time, we still take accuracy seriously, so every claim is backed by solid, verifiable sources. That way, the content is approachable on the surface but still holds up when someone wants to dig deeper.

See the following articles for details:

• Style and Structure provides guidelines on style and on structuring text beyond the common top-level and second-level headings. It also provides a customized style guide for particular circumstances.
• Briefing Section Summary addresses top-level headings, and for key points and counterclaims, it provides patterns for the points made and the counterclaims addressed.
• Presenting Evidence offers guidelines on wording for factual claims, how sources are referenced in-line, and how endnote citations are formatted.

Note: Much of the existing text was written under previous standards and thus does not provide a good model. We are revising existing text to better comply, but that will take time.

Using AI in Writing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be used as a brainstorming and refinement tool, but never as an unquestioned authority. It can help generate angles, suggest structure, tighten language, or offer alternative phrasing—always building on work you have already developed.

AI-generated claims, statistics, quotations, or interpretations must never be assumed accurate; all substantive content must be independently verified through reliable sources. The author and vBriefings remain fully responsible for accuracy, judgment, and intellectual integrity.

Audience / Persona Implications

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of creating the vBriefings platform was the need to cater to three somewhat distinct audiences, or personas. There is enough overlap in the needs of these three personas to justify serving them on a single platform to avoid redundancy, but enough variation in their needs and perspectives to make the job challenging.

The Personas

• The Veg-Curious: The veg-curious are intrigued by the arguments supporting veganism, but are wary of misinformation. They want a trustworthy, non-judgmental website that offers concise, logical, evidence-based information.
• The Everyday Vegan: Even though they don’t consider themselves activists, everyday vegans sometimes find themselves confronting false information, answering specific objections, or defending their dietary choices. They want a reliable website they can both use and send others to—a site that educates and provides credible sources.
• The Advocate/Outreacher: Advocates and outreachers are passionate about speaking out about the consequences of animal exploitation and eager to improve. They appreciate outreach tips, visuals to amplify their message, flashcards to help remember key points, and slides to craft the perfect presentation.

Implications of Multi-Persona Accommodations

This multi-persona accommodation manifests itself in the following ways:

• Key Points Nomenclature. > All briefings have a “Key [something]” section, and for most, it is designated “Key Points.” For those using a briefing to prepare for conversations, these should be thought of as “talking points.” But “talking points” may come across as proselytizing to the veg-curious, so we use the term “key points.” After a conversation, you can send them to vBriefings for verification of sources and further exploration, knowing they will not be offended.
• Advocacy Resources Segregation. The Advocacy Resources section is the last section before footnotes, so as not to distract the veg-curious. It can be easily reached from the Briefing Sections menu that accompanies every briefing, serving as a table of contents
• Friendly Tone. vBriefings should feel welcoming, steady, and grounded—never sarcastic or combative. Write with warmth and respect, assuming the reader is thoughtful and capable. Avoid shaming, exaggeration, or emotional overreach. That said, briefings should also convey an air of academic seriousness: claims should be carefully framed, terminology used accurately, and conclusions proportionate to the evidence. The tone should convey both care and conviction—this issue matters and deserves careful, disciplined attention.
• Rhetorical strength. The power of rhetoric comes from precision and structure, not volume. Favor clear verbs, concrete language, and direct claims supported by evidence. Eliminate vague constructions and unnecessary qualifiers. Well-crafted sentences should be quotable, portable, and persuasive—language readers can confidently use in real conversations.

Goals

The goals below describe the intended function and guiding principles of every briefing. They inform both how the content is written and structured, ensuring that each briefing is clear, accurate, and effective in informing readers and supporting meaningful conversations.

Text-Based for a Reason

There are many talented video creators and meme designers in the animal rights and vegan space, and their work can be powerful and persuasive. vBriefings, however, is primarily text-based because our goal is conversational usefulness. We strive to offer well-crafted sentences that can be remembered, paraphrased, quoted, and adapted in real time.

In most conversations, you are unlikely to pause and present a video or scroll for a meme; you rely on language. By focusing on clear, rhetorically strong writing, we equip readers with words they can readily carry into thoughtful, face-to-face dialogue.

Consistent Structure for a Reason

Every briefing follows the same overall structure. This is a deliberate choice and one that plays a large role in how briefings are meant to be read and used. It is especially helpful for regular users and repeat visitors, who can return to new briefings already knowing how information will be organized and where to find what they are looking for.

The consistent structure promotes:

• Clarity and Readability: When readers understand the structure, they can focus on the content rather than figuring out how the document is organized. A familiar structure makes it easier to move through background material, core claims, responses to objections, and supporting information without friction.
• Credibility and Trust: Using the same structure repeatedly signals that these briefings are not casual opinion pieces. Readers come to expect careful framing, clear claims, and direct engagement with common objections, all supported by sources.
• Writing and Editorial Efficiency: For writers, a shared structure reduces much of the guesswork. Instead of reinventing the organization each time, the focus can stay on research, accuracy, and clarity. For editors, it makes it much easier to see what’s missing, what’s redundant, or what needs tightening.
• Reusability: Because the structure is predictable, the briefings are easy to reuse. Whether someone is preparing a talk, doing outreach, or pulling material for further study, they know where to find the core ideas and the supporting material.