Independence
We are editorially independent. No advertiser, sponsor, donor, investor, or political party has a say in what we cover or how we cover it. We publish that separation explicitly on our Editorial Policy page.
The business side of the National Reformer, including ads, sponsorships, and subscriptions, is walled off from newsroom decisions. Nobody in advertising sees a story before it’s published, and nobody in the newsroom sees a rate sheet while deciding what to cover.
Conflicts of interest
Reporters, editors, and contributors disclose any personal, financial, or political relationship that could reasonably affect a story before they work on it. Where a conflict exists, we assign the piece to someone else. If we can’t remove the conflict, we disclose it to the reader in the piece.
Staff do not accept paid or unpaid work for a subject of their reporting, do not hold financial positions in companies they cover on the beat, and do not participate in political campaigns for candidates or ballot measures they may report on. Advocacy work outside the paper is disclosed to an editor.
Gifts, comps, and travel
We do not accept gifts, meals over ordinary courtesy, comped tickets, sponsored travel, or press junkets from sources or subjects of coverage. If a review requires access — a book, a screener, an album, admission to a public event — we accept only what is necessary to do the work, and we disclose the arrangement when relevant.
Sources: care and protection
We name our sources whenever we can. When we grant anonymity, it’s because a source faces real risk for speaking, and we corroborate their information before we publish. We explain to readers, in the story, why anonymity was granted.
We protect confidential sources. We do not disclose their identities to advertisers, to the business side, or to law enforcement absent a court order we’ve exhausted every legal option to contest.
We do not deceive sources about who we are or what a conversation is for. If we’re reporting, we say so. Recording is disclosed except where the law explicitly permits otherwise and the newsroom judges disclosure would prevent a matter of significant public interest from being reported.
Care for subjects
Being covered by a newspaper can change a person’s life. We take that seriously.
- We give named individuals a genuine chance to respond before publication when they are the subject of a serious allegation.
- We do not identify minors, crime victims, or people whose lives may be endangered by identification unless there is a compelling public interest that overrides the risk, and an editor has weighed that call.
- We treat grief, trauma, and private moments with the restraint we’d want extended to our own families.
Plagiarism and attribution
Plagiarism is a fireable offense. Every quote, phrase, fact, or idea we take from someone else’s work is attributed. If another outlet broke a story we’re following, we credit them by name in the piece.
On the record, background, off the record
We assume every conversation with a source is on the record unless the source asks otherwise before speaking. “Background” and “off the record” are honored when granted in advance, and we do not use those conversations as reporting except as a lead to independently verified, on-the-record information.
AI-assisted work
We use artificial intelligence to help our small team cover more ground, under strict rules. AI does not report, source, or verify on its own. A human is responsible for everything we publish. See our AI Use Policy.
Errors and accountability
We will get things wrong. When we do, we fix it in the open, promptly, with a record of what changed. See our Corrections Policy.
Complaints about a piece, ethical, factual, or otherwise, go to the editor named on the story, or to ethics@nationalreformer.com. We take them seriously.