We at ZNN have noticed there is a lot of divisive commentary and opinions that are swirling around currently. You can go to just about any fandom and there are usually a bunch of hot topic items that when mentioned can set aflame a huge inferno that may be hard to quench. So, in light of recent creative developments within the Zootopia community, I figured it would be good to go back to the basics and reestablish what we do at ZNN and why we do it.

On March 4, 2016, Zootopia was released in theaters and set ablaze the creative inspirations within thousands of people. Countless fanfics, art, comics and more were generated by the fan base. Some rose to prominence while others wallowed in obscurity. ZNN was founded by Andy Lagopus (stage name, I assure you) on March 31, 2016. Its primary goal was to report on any and all news regarding this particular fandom. It didn’t matter what the content or medium was, if it was Zootopia, it would be featured.

However, Andy decided to do something a bit different than most other sites. He wanted to establish a set of standards for featuring things on ZNN. A set of rules and guidelines that would help differentiate between content that was either inappropriate or lacking a certain level of quality and feature that which was truly noteworthy according to those set of standards. As laid out in his ethos that is publicly readable to all the ZNN staff when they join.

THE OFFICIAL ZNN STAFF GUIDELINES – We exist to highlight and encourage all things newsworthy in the Zootopia fandom. – We judge a person’s work based on its own merits, regardless of what the person may have done elsewhere, be it good or ill. – We uphold our standards of decency, and look to Disney for examples of what is and is not acceptable. – We respect the Sabbath, and therefore do not post anything on Sundays. – We respect those whose work we feature, and encourage our readers to visit them on their own platforms, at the original source. – We strive to highlight a variety of content, and will feature at least two articles per day. – We encourage and promote creativity and personal expression in all forms, so long as it adheres to our standards of decency.

Made public today, you can see Andy decided to set ZNN apart by putting these guidelines on everything we do at ZNN. Now they are not hard and fast rules and are still guidelines, thus can be bent depending on the situation. ZNN is split up into several sections and each section has their own, more defined and precise set of guidelines and standards that delve deeper into what is or isn’t okay to feature. Those are left up to the individual team leads to craft and then get approved by Andy himself and that’s what they follow when judging a work to feature.

Working within the structure that was laid down above, if a work passes all standards it will get featured. Now, there have been several controversial works that have been featured such as A Different Kind of Predator by Lucario389 (which I prompted him to submit to ZNN) and the infamous comic I Will Survive by Borba (which also now has an equally controversial sequel: Born to Be Alive). With these sorts of posts, we debated long and hard, because they passed all the guidelines in terms of quality, style, content, etc. However, each addressed some hot topic issues that could spark a very lively debate, to put it mildly.

With these difficult decisions, we have to go back to the primary tenets of ZNN that Andy laid down. Is it newsworthy? Yes, they surely are. Is it judged on its own merits for quality regardless of content therein? Yes, it passes ZNN’s quality standard for sure. Does it uphold decency standards? Debatable and highly contested, so much so that sometimes we’d need almost the entire leadership to weigh in on certain posts. If majority votes borderline to yes, it gets featured. Skipping down to the last tenet, featuring a certain fanfic, comic or piece of art does continue to help promote creativity and freedom of personal expression for each individual creator.

So in the end, if it meets all the above criteria, as an objective news site, we will feature anything that exists in the Zootopia fandom. Individual reviewers or post writers may offer their own personal opinion or take on a feature, but overall, the entire ZNN remains neutral in all things it posts. That is, at least, what we strive for. Every creator is different, every piece of art unique. Not all things ZNN features is indicative of the entire Zootopia fandom as a whole – only a small piece.

I’d love to point out a few other pieces from the past we’ve featured that are just as deserving of time and just as outside the box as the examples pointed out above. Zoorangers by Bionichute is a fantastic, ridiculous and off-the-wall crossover fic that really has to be read to be believed. Inside Nick and Judy is a creative crossover comic where we get to see what Inside Out would be if it was in the world of Zootopia involving our favorite duo! Try Everything A Capella! is a ingenious rendition of our favorite song from Gazelle and well worth a listen.

That’s the beauty of this fandom. There is such a wide variety of content from a huge swath of creators that makes being in this community such a rewarding experience. At ZNN, we do our best to bring to light all these talented creators and what their brilliant minds have created, regardless of the medium it’s presented in. So, for anyone new to the fandom and reading this, I strongly urge you to dig deeper and explore all that this community has to offer. You might find yourself loving Zootopia just as much if not more than we do here at ZNN!

And remember, as always,

Try Everything!