Prison Journalism Project has embraced and adopted a very lightly edited version of the suggested policies promulgated by the Institute for Nonprofit News, a national network of more than 220 independent organizations that collaborate on best practices in journalism, ethics, business accountability and transparency. Our policies are listed below. For more information and to view the template policies, visit https://inn.org/for-members/ethics/.
Editorial Independence 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. Prison Journalism Project, Inc., is a fiscally sponsored project of Players Philanthropy Fund, a Maryland charitable trust recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Federal Tax ID: 27-6601178, ppf.org/pp). Contributions to Prison Journalism Project are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
We may receive funds from standard government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses.
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.
We make public all revenue sources and donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
Equity and Inclusion
This news organization aims to reflect the diversity of the communities it serves in its staff and contributors, its editorial choices and priorities. Click here for our full Respect in the Workplace Policy.
Privacy Policy
It is important to remember that visitors to our site understand what information we gather about them, how we use it, and how we work to protect it. By using our website, and/or signing up for services such as membership or our newsletter, you consent to information practices outlined in our Privacy Policy.
For the full policy, click here.