Project Optimist policies

Project Optimist is a member of the Tiny News Collective and Local Independent Online News Publishers.

Editorial Independence, Fundraising, and Donations

Project Optimist retains authority of editorial content. The organization has a firewall between news coverage decisions and revenue sources. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services, or opinions.

Project Optimist may pursue donations, grants, or sponsorships to support coverage of specific topics, but the organization maintains independent, editorial control of the coverage. Project Optimist will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of content. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse the contributor or their products, services, or opinions. 

Project Optimist will avoid accepting charitable donations from political parties, elected officials, or candidates seeking public office. Government support in the form of grants or sponsorships must be reviewed and approved by our board of directors. 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.

Project Optimist will annually publish a list of donors who contribute to the organization. The list will be archived on the website. 

Anonymous donations will be capped at $500 and used for general operating expenses of the organization.

Use of Anonymous Sources

Project Optimist follows the Society of Professional Journalists’ policy on use of anonymous sources: 

We will: 

• Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
• Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
• Journalists must have an approval from a top editor at Project Optimist before agreeing to use information provided by an anonymous source. This would be the managing editor or executive director. 
• One Project Optimist editor must know the identity of the anonymous source.

Corrections, Clarifications, and Typos

Project Optimist strives to report stories accurately, but we’re human, and mistakes sometimes happen. 

We will be transparent about errors and quick to correct them. We’ll put a note at the top of the story noting what information has been corrected. 

We also distinguish between corrections, which are made when we make a mistake, and clarifications, which are done to make information clearer or to ensure information is not misleading. 

We will fix typos without noting the change as long as the typo didn’t muddle the meaning of the sentence. 

Let us know here if you spot an error in one of our stories.

Style for corrections

We will

• put the correction at the top of the story where it happened. 
• state what has been corrected (do not repeat the error). Example: This story was updated on August 1, 2024 with the correct spelling of Cletus Zettel’s name. Project Optimist regrets the error.
• include the correction in the top section of the next newsletter.