Editorial Independence Policy
Central Current, Inc. subscribes to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Central Current, Inc. retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. Our news judgments are made independently, and no sources of revenue influence our news coverage. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute an 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 mission and activities, but our news judgments are made independently and is not influenced by any revenue sources.
Central Current, Inc. may solicit and accept donations or sponsorships to support the coverage of specific topics or issues, but all news stories and coverage areas are decided by our editorial staff. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Editorial decisions are exclusively made by editorial staff. Board members are responsible for ensuring the sustainability of the organization by contributing to and overseeing its fiscal health, and by protecting and promoting its mission – but do not have decision-making authority regarding editorial content and day-to-day operations of Central Current, Inc.
The managing editor has discretion to disclose in news stories potential conflicts of interest involving a board member, donor or sponsor.
Financial Transparency Policy
Central Current, Inc. is committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors, sponsors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help support our journalistic mission, including our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates as a public trust, we do not pay certain taxes. We may receive funds from government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses, and we will disclose all public funds we may accept in support of our mission.
We maintain a strict separation between our funding and our journalism. Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
Central Current follows the standards defined by The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). We maintain public a list of all individual and agency donors who have contributed more than $500 to Central Current. Donors are informed of our transparency policy at the time of giving. As a news nonprofit committed to transparency, any anonymous donations must have their status approved by the board, (or executive committee if time is a constraint), to assess any conflicts of interest or other concerns. The total anonymous donations to Central Current in any one year will not exceed 15% of the organization’s budget, to be consistent with INN’s guidelines.
Corrections Policy
Central Current strives to be accurate and fact-based. When we fall short of that goal and make mistakes that involve factual errors, we will as quickly as possible correct them and inform our readers. Corrections will be clearly displayed in an editor’s note before or after an article. When a story that was published to our newsletter has been corrected, we will include those corrections in the following edition of the newsletter whenever possible.
We strive to be transparent and accountable to our readers, and invite you to report any corrections to Managing Editor Chris Libonati at libonati@centralcurrent.org.
Bylaws and Conflict of Interest Policy
See our bylaws, including our conflict of interest polices here.