The new grassroots journalism is happening on the Internet, and it is happening in local communities — picking up the pieces of a mission abandoned by media corporations that bought up local newspapers and radio stations, merged newsrooms, created monopolies, eviscerated editorial budgets, and abandoned the in-depth, knowledgeable, passionate, grassroots news reporting vital to the health of a democracy.
The Online Journalism Project formed in mid-2005 to promote and steer the course of the new journalism. Our mission: to encourage the development of professional-quality hyperlocal and issue-oriented online news websites. Sites like this one. We also assist others undertaking online journalism initiatives.
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Editorial Independent Policy
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.
Donor Transparency
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization.
Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects. Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
We will make public all donors who give $5000 or more per year. As a nonprofit, we will avoid accepting donations from anonymous sources, and we will not accept donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates actively seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
Other sample policies recommended by INN:
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Information Collection
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MEMBER WEBSITE employs a number of security methods designed to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure correct use of information. Your personal data will be stored within a database that is located behind a firewall for added security.
No data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be secure. As a result, while we try to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. We are not liable for the illegal acts of any third party.
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Links to Other Sites
MEMBER WEBSITE provides links and pointers to Web sites maintained by other organizations. MEMBER WEBSITE provides these links as a convenience to users, but it does not operate or control such sites. MEMBER WEBSITE also disclaims any responsibility for the information on those sites and any products or services offered there, and cannot vouch for the privacy policies of such sites. MEMBER WEBSITE does not make any warranties or representations that any linked sites, or this site, will function without error or interruption, that defects will be corrected, or that the sites and their servers are free of viruses and other problems that can harm your computer.
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Changes to this Privacy Policy
MEMBER WEBSITE may change its privacy policy from time to time. If we make any changes regarding disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information to third parties, we will post notice of the new policy on our home page.
Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability
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Questions
If you have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy or our use of your information, please email [email=editor@newhavenindependent.org]here[/email].
Advertising Acceptability Policy
MEMBER reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement or sponsorship it is offered.
MEMBER will decline to accept advertising that it knows or believes to be misleading, inaccurate, fraudulent or illegal, or that fails to comply, in MEMBER’s sole discretion, with its standards of decency, taste or dignity.
MEMBER, like all quality publishers of original journalism, maintains a clear separation between news and advertising content. Advertising that attempts to blur this distinction in a manner that, in MEMBER’s sole judgment, confuses readers will be rejected.
Note: Conflict of Interest policies such as this are usually internal documents for staff and board members, but in the interest of transparency, INN recommends news organizations consider posting their conflict policies for public review as it provides readers with further insights into the ethics and news practices of your organization.
Conflict of Interest Policy
The following Financial Conflict of Interest Policy (“Conflict of Interest Policy”) is an effort (i) to ensure that the deliberations and decisions of the MEMBER ORGANIZATION FULL NAME (“MEMBER”) are made solely in the interest of promoting the quality of journalism in the state of MEMBER STATE (if applicable), and (ii) to protect the interests of MEMBER when it considers any transaction, contract, or arrangement that might benefit or be perceived to benefit the private interest of a person affiliated with MEMBER (each, a “MEMBER Representative”). As used in this Conflict of Interest Policy, a MEMBER Representative includes any director, advisory board member, financial advisor, legal counsel or employee.
Duty to MEMBER. Each MEMBER Representative owes a duty to MEMBER to advance MEMBER’s legitimate interests when the opportunity to do so arises. Each MEMBER Representative must give undivided allegiance when making decisions affecting the organization. Similarly, MEMBER Representatives must be faithful to MEMBER’s nonprofit mission and are not permitted to act in a way that is inconsistent with the central goals of the organization and its nonprofit status.
Gifts. No MEMBER Representative shall personally accept gifts or favors that could compromise his or her loyalty to MEMBER. Any gifts or benefits personally accepted from a party having a material interest in the outcome of MEMBER or its employees by a MEMBER Representative individually should be merely incidental to his or her role as an MEMBER Representative and should not be of substantial value. Any gift with a value of $250 or more, or any gifts with a cumulative value in excess of $250 received by an MEMBER Representative in any twelve-month period from a single source, shall be considered substantial. Cash payments may not be accepted, and no gifts should be accepted if there are strings attached. For example, no MEMBER Representative may accept gifts if he or she knows that such gifts are being given to solicit his or her support of or opposition to the outcome or content of any MEMBER publication.
Conflicts of Interest. The following are examples of conflicts of interest which must be promptly disclosed to the MEMBER Board of Directors pursuant to Section 4 below by any MEMBER Representative with knowledge of such conflict of interest:
(a) any real or apparent conflict of interest between a donor or the subject of an MEMBER publication or report and an MEMBER Representative;
(b) an MEMBER Representative’s ownership of an equity interest in a person or entity that is or will be the subject of an MEMBER publication or report; and
(c) failure to disclose to MEMBER all relationships between the subject of any MEMBER publication or report and any MEMBER Representative or close relatives of the MEMBER Representative.
Conflict Procedure:
(a) If an MEMBER Representative or party related to an MEMBER Representative has an interest in any contract, action or transaction to be entered into with MEMBER, a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest exists. Any MEMBER Representative having knowledge that such a conflict of interest exists or may exist (an “Interested MEMBER Representative”) will so advise the Board of Directors promptly. An Interested MEMBER Representative will include in the notice the material facts as to the relationship or interest of the Interested MEMBER Representative in the entity proposing to enter into a contract, action or transaction with MEMBER.
(b) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Board of Directors may authorize any committee appointed pursuant to the MEMBER by-laws (a “Committee”) to act in lieu of the Board of Directors in determining whether an action, contract or transaction is fair to MEMBER as of the time it is authorized or approved by the Committee.
(c) At any time that a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest is identified, the President of the Board or a Chair of the applicable Committee will ensure that such conflict of interest is placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable. The notice of such meeting of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will include, to the extent available when the notice is sent, a description of the conflict of interest matter to be discussed. By notice before the meeting or at the meeting, the directors on the board or the Committee, as applicable, will be advised that a vote will be taken at the meeting and that, in order to authorize the relevant contract, action or transaction, an affirmative vote of a majority of disinterested directors present at the meeting at which a quorum is present will be required and will be sufficient, even though the disinterested directors constitute less than a quorum of the Board of Directors or the Committee.
(d) Reasonable effort will be made to cause the material facts concerning the relationships between the individuals and MEMBER which create the conflict to be delivered to and shared with the members of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, prior to the meeting to enable the directors to arrive at the meeting prepared to discuss the issue. In the event it is not practicable to deliver the information prior to the meeting, it will be delivered to the directors at the meeting, and the directors can act upon the matter with the same authority as if notice had been given prior to the meeting.
(e) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will invite all parties to the conflict of interest to attend the meeting, to make presentations and to be prepared to answer questions, if necessary. The Board or Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will also invite outside experts if necessary.
(f) At the meeting, providing a quorum is present, the conflict will be discussed to ensure that the directors present are aware of the issues and the factors involved. The interested directors may be counted for purposes of a quorum, even though they may not take part in any vote on the issues.
(g) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, must decide, in good faith, reasonably justified by the material facts, whether the action, contract or transaction would be in the best interest of MEMBER and fair to MEMBER as of the time it is authorized or approved.
(h) All interested directors must abstain from voting and, if necessary, leave the room when the vote is taken.
(i) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will maintain a written account of all that transpires at the meeting and incorporate such account into the minutes of the meeting and disseminate it to the full Board of Directors. Such minutes will be presented for approval at the next meeting of the Board of Directors and maintained in the corporate record book.
(j) To the extent that the conflict of interest is continuing and the contract, action or transaction goes beyond one (1) year, the foregoing notice and discussion and vote will be repeated on an annual basis.
Personal Loans. MEMBER may not loan to, or guarantee the personal obligations of, any MEMBER Representative.
Online Journalism Project Board of Directors
Paul Bass is the executive director of The Online Journalism Project. Bass has been a leading reporter and editor in Connecticut for over 40 years. Bass has won dozens of national and regional awards for investigative, news, business, feature, and opinion writing and reporting. He worked as an editor and investigative reporter for the New Haven Advocate from 1989 – 2004. He is the co-author, with co-author Douglas W. Rae, of Murder in the Model City: The Black Panthers, Yale, & The Redemption of a Killer (2006, Basic Books) about the 1969 murder of a Black Panther in New Haven and the resulting trials and FBI revelations surrounding the case. Thousands of Bass’s articles about Connecticut are in a dedicated archive housed at the Manuscripts & Archives section of Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library. Paul edits the New Haven Independent.
Michelle Chihara has been a writer, editor and journalist since 1996. She worked as an editor for MotherJones.com, the daily site for the investigative news magazine, for the dot.com Tripod Inc, and as a staff writer at two alternative weeklies, the New Haven Advocate and the Boston Phoenix. A Yale graduate, she received her MFA in Creative Writing at UC Irvine in 2006, and her PhD in English Literature at UC Irvine in 2012. Her work has appeared in Studies in American Fiction, The Los Angeles Review of Books, n+1, The Santa Monica Review, Mother Jones, The Boston Globe, and Bloomberg.com, among others. She currently teaches creative nonfiction writing and contemporary American literature as an English professor at Whittier College.
Gemma Joseph Lumpkin is chief executive officer of High Performance Education Group, which helps schools analyze data and improve student performance. She is a former Vice President of the CT Academy for Education in Math, Science and Technology in Middletown, CT and a former public affairs director of Fox 61 television in Hartford. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, she grew up in New Haven, where she still lives. She earned her MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Norma Rodriguez-Reyes runs and co-owns the Spanish-language newspaper La Voz Hispana. She took over the paper in 1998 when it verged on bankruptcy. Under her direction, the newspaper has grown into the state’s largest-circulation Spanish-language weekly.