Editorial Independence, Donor, Ethics and Corrections Policies

Editorial Independence

Voices of Monterey Bay adheres to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:

We retain 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 cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.

Our organization will provide a list of all donors to the public if requested and will list donations greater than $5000 on our website. 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

Voices of Monterey Bay is 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.

As a nonprofit, we will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our advisory board, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.

Corrections Policies

Voices of Monterey Bay is committed to producing journalism that is fair, accurate, and rigorous. If we make a factual or contextual error, we are committed to correcting it promptly and transparently.
How to Report an Error: If you spot a mistake, please email our editorial team. Please include the URL of the article, the specific error, and what you believe the correct information should be.
How We Handle Corrections: When a substantive error is fixed in an online article, we will add a correction note at the bottom of the story detailing what was changed and when. In rare cases where a story is fundamentally flawed or inaccurate beyond repair, an editor’s note of retraction will replace the text.

Our Journalistic Ethics

  • No donor, funder, or corporate sponsor will receive right of review, preview, or veto power over editorial content.
  • Editorial staff must immediately disclose any personal, financial or familial relationships with story subjects to our editors.
  • Journalists will be recused from reporting on, editing, or producing content involving entities where a conflict of interest exists.
  • Staff may not accept free travel, accommodations, meals, tickets or gifts worth more than $50 from any source or subject of coverage.
  • We verify all information before publication through cross-referencing and official documentation.
  • We use named sources whenever possible. Anonymous sources are granted only when the source faces physical, professional, or legal retaliation, and their identity must be known to our editors.
  • We make every reasonable effort to contact the subjects of critical reporting and grant them a meaningful opportunity to respond prior to publication.

Digital Integrity and AI Usage

We do not publish or present AI-generated text or images as original journalistic work. Any use of AI tools for research or data analysis must be verified by a human editor.