Policies

Policies

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. 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.

We will make public all donors who give $5000 or more per year. As a nonprofit, we will avoid accepting donations from anonymous sources, and we will not accept donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates actively 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.

Public Service Announcement Policy

Our organization does not air public service announcements. Interstitial messaging, created as a result of partnerships with a variety of organizations, may be aired at the discretion of our organization when appropriate.

Advertising Acceptability Policy

Our organization reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement or sponsorship it is offered.

Our organization will decline to accept advertising that it knows or believes to be misleading, inaccurate, fraudulent or illegal, or that fails to comply, in our organization’s sole discretion, with its standards of decency, taste or dignity.

Our organization, like all quality publishers of original journalism, maintains a clear separation between news and advertising content. Advertising that attempts to blur this distinction in a manner that, in our organization’s sole judgment, confuses readers will be rejected.

Lehigh Valley Public Media Community Guidelines

Lehigh Valley Public Media is the home to PBS39 and WVLR News. Our social media channels for both our television and radio station are a medium for us to further share our local reporting and for discussion of issues of public concern.

While we do moderate comments on social media, we also encourage the vibrant expression of diverse views about our content, as well as civil and dignified speech, as much as possible. However, we ask that members of our community please respect the guidelines listed HERE.