We are committed to accurate and impartial journalism.
We abide by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.
Here are some important highlights of our overall ethical philosophy.
(1) We aim to report facts and to provide the reader with opportunities to learn the truth. If we express an opinion, we make it clear that we are doing so.
(2) We remember that journalists, being human, are part of their community. They, too, care about that community and about its fate. We do not ask journalists to remain aloof from their community in deed or in word. We do ask journalists to avoid personal and financial conflicts of interest that could or will compromise their independence as journalists.
(3) We ask that journalists candidly acknowledge, when appropriate, their opinions and biases. We recognize that all human beings have them.
(4) We believe in admitting error and in correcting it.
(5) We do not pay our sources for information or for interviews. That said, we do not consider the purchase of a cup of coffee or another beverage or lunch during an interview to be a form of compensation to the source because such generosity is not likely to compromise the integrity of our publication, our journalists, or the source unless it is traded for information.
(6) We do pay freelance journalists, photographers, or videographers for their contributions to this publication.
(7) We are forthright about the sources of our funding.
Finally, we believe that the Journalist’s Creed should be our guiding star. Written by the first dean of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Walter Williams, the creed is on display at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and in other locations around the world.
“I believe in the profession of journalism.
“I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.
“I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.
“I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.
“I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.
“I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one’s own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another’s instructions or another’s dividends.
“I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.
“I believe that the journalism which succeeds best – and best deserves success – fears God and honors Man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power, constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today’s world.”
