Ethics Policy

Newsberg retains full authority over all editorial content. We maintain a strict firewall between news coverage decisions and all sources of revenue — advertising, sponsorships, grants, donations, or events. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of supporters, their products, services, or opinions.

We accept advertising, sponsorships, grants, and donations for the general support of our operations. Our news judgments are made independently and are never influenced by the source or amount of financial support received.

We may accept funding to support coverage of particular topics or beats. In all cases, Newsberg maintains sole editorial control. We will not grant any funder, advertiser, or donor the right to review, influence, or approve editorial content prior to publication, nor the right to distribute our content without authorization.

Newsberg will publicly disclose any individual or organization providing $5,000 or more in cumulative financial support in a calendar year, including advertising, sponsorships, grants, and donations. We will not accept anonymous support above that threshold.

Newsberg is independently owned and operated — and we think that matters. We answer to our community, not to a corporate parent, an absentee owner, or a distant hedge fund. Our decisions about what to cover, how to cover it, and how to sustain this publication are made right here in Newberg.

We are fiscally sponsored by Tiny News Collective (EIN 85-3963369), a nonprofit organization that supports independent local news publishers. That relationship allows us to accept certain grants and tax-deductible contributions while remaining an independently operated publication with full editorial control.

Our revenue comes from several sources:

No single source of funding drives our coverage. If you’d like to support Newsberg, you can donate here or learn about advertising opportunities.

Humans run this publication, and humans regrettably make errors from time to time. Any errors will be corrected as quickly as possible with a note attached to the bottom of the original story, and we’ll run a notice in our next newsletter with a correction.

Corrections can be submitted via Newsberg’s contact form.

We strive to report the facts and only the facts, leaving readers the opportunity to digest information and come to their own conclusions.

An important note: Newsberg does not give “equal time” to liars and bad actors. ‘Bothsidesism’ or ‘false equalivence’, as it’s know, is also considered bad-faith journalism practice.

Our policy is to seek truth first, and use the tools of journalism — public documents, verified photographs and videos, interviews, and data — to find the facts. Then we lay it out for you to see.

We also believe it’s important to disclose bias. Here’s ours:

Being a small town, Newsberg’s staff will inevitably be involved with various community organizations and groups. These affiliations will be disclosed in the author’s bio, and reporters will be prohibited from publishing work about groups in which they’re personally involved.

We don’t make political endorsements, and we don’t opine on local topics — with two exceptions: legislation that threatens or bolsters access to public records and open government meetings, and topics that represent an existential threat to the lives of community members.

Our volunteer column writers are asked to keep their political opinions out of their writing as much as they are able.

Newsberg rarely publishes columns and has no editorial board. Understanding the difference between our content types matters.