The Toledo Free Press is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization whose mission is to provide high-quality journalism for people who care about Northwest Ohio. We publish news and analysis based on reporting by professional journalists who strive to uphold the highest standards of fairness and accuracy. The Free Press adheres to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, and belongs to the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), operating in accordance with its standards for financial transparency and editorial independence.
Editorial independence
As a nonprofit, the Free Press relies on funding from a variety of sources: individual donations, advertising and corporate sponsorship and foundation grants. In all cases, however, our policy when it comes to editorial independence remains the same: All editorial decisions are made by our journalists — and only our journalists — in pursuit of any and all stories we deem newsworthy. Those who contribute to or do business with the Free Press do so with the understanding that they are not entitled to preferential treatment, and that their financial support does not protect our donors, funders, advertisers or sponsors from journalistic scrutiny. Whenever a story mentions a major funder or a member of our board of directors, we will disclose that relationship in the story.
Corrections
We strive to uphold the highest standards of accuracy. Still, we will make mistakes. When we do, we will correct the story and denote the story has been updated. If you believe we have made an error in a story, please email us at loriking@toledofreepress.com and we will do our best to correct the error.
Sourcing & attribution
We will try our best to identify all sources, granting individuals anonymity only when it is necessary to do so. We will also seek to identify relevant affiliations and known biases of our sources as they relate to a story, and we will always make efforts to contact the primary subjects and sources of criticism in our news coverage. Our journalists will never misrepresent themselves or mislead a source to get an interview or a story. The Free Press does not pay for interviews.
Conflicts of interest
Toledo Free Press journalists will not work on stories or projects in which they have a unique vested interest, financial or personal. They should avoid active, direct investment in companies or industries they regularly cover.
Secondary employment or freelance work by any of our staff or contract journalists must be cleared by an editor to ensure the work does not conflict with their responsibilities at the Free Press.
Editorial employees may moderate panels or speak at events so long as their role is purely journalistic. Toledo Free Press employees, contractors and interns will not accept any gift from any company, individual or institution that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility. We always pay our own way when traveling for editorial purposes.
Donor & Financial Transparency Policy of the Toledo Free Press Committed
Adopted and approved by the Toledo Free Press Committee on March 9, 2023
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. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates as a public trust, we do not pay certain taxes. 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, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
