Cambridge Day Ethics & News Practices Policies

Cambridge Day is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization. Our mission is to provide our readers with impartial, informative reporting, and to be an outlet for civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, government and other matters of city-wide concern. This mission drives the values and guidelines set out in our code of ethics, which borrows generously from the policies set by other nonprofit news organizations like ProPublica, NPR,  the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Cambridge Day is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a national network of more than 400 independent organizations that support each other and collaborate on best practices in journalism, ethics, business, accountability and transparency.We have adopted many of their policies which are outlined below.

  • Editorial Independence
  • Donor & Financial Transparency
  • Ethics
  • Sourcing
  • Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Equity and Inclusion

Editorial Independence 

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 based on donor support.

Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but we maintain editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.

Donor & Financial Transparency

We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding of our organization.

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 disclose the names of donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials, or candidates seeking public office. 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. We will not accept anonymous donations that total more than 15% of total donations.  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.

Ethics

Accuracy and Attribution

  • Our reporting on all platforms will be truthful, transparent and respectful; our facts will be accurate, complete and fairly presented. Our analysis will represent our best independent judgment, not our preferences or those of our sources. There will be no hidden agendas in our endeavors.
  • When we make a mistake — and from time to time we will — we will work quickly to fully address the error, correcting it within the story, detailing the error on the story page and adding it to a running list of corrections.
  • If you find an error, email us at editor@cambridgeday.org
  • We will not republish stories, images or other content from outside sources without permission and credit. Plagiarism, fabrication and misappropriation of intellectual property are all grounds for immediate termination.
  • Our photo editors and video producers may improve the technical quality of photos and video or audio recordings but may not alter the substance of that media. All photo illustrations, graphics or animations will be clearly labeled as such. 

Sourcing

  • We will try our best to identify all our sources, granting individuals anonymity only when the information is critical to the story, we are certain the source is reliable and there is no other way to obtain the information. We will not say that a person declined comment if they are already quoted anonymously. As much as possible, we will identify in our reporting any bias we know our sources have. Anonymous sources should know that the reporter will share their identity with a senior editor, who will also keep that information confidential.
  • Our journalists will never misrepresent themselves or mislead a source to get an interview or a story, and they will always identify themselves as journalists. They do not use hidden cameras or microphones, go undercover or pay for interviews.
  • Multiple efforts will be made to contact the primary subjects and sources of criticism in our stories.

Privacy 

By using our website, or signing up for services such as membership, subscriptions, the print edition, or our newsletter, users consent to information practices outlined in our privacy policy.

Information Collection

We track how our visitors use this site so that we can see what people like and don’t like. We also analyze and aggregate information about use patterns and share the aggregated data with technology and business development consultants (for example, we keep track of how many users see and click on stories). We do not sell or otherwise share personal information with any third parties for marketing, advertising or other commercial purposes. We may also collect personal information about you via registration for newsletters, commenting, donations, membership and other areas. Where you have an opportunity to supply information about yourself you may choose not to provide requested information but, in such cases, you may not be able to use certain particular functions on the website.

We will not release your name, email address or any other personal information to anyone outside Cambridge Day or its consultants without your consent, unless we are under a legal order to do so, or there is an emergency involving danger to a person or property.

If you chose to provide your personally identifiable information for the purposes of a third-party contest, survey or newsletter, your consent shall be deemed to be given for the release of your personally identifiable information about that third party only, in addition to Cambridge Day. Only authorized Cambridge Day employees or consultants or members of the Board of Directors are allowed access to personal information about you. Any employee or consultant who violates our privacy and security policies is subject to disciplinary action.

We occasionally have service contractors, third party agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and joint ventures that perform functions on our behalf, including but not limited to credit card processing and website hosting. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions and are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of the data. They are restricted from using or altering this data in any way other than to provide the requested services to Cambridge Day. In addition, we may always share, disclose and transfer all information, postings and all other personal and non-personal information we have collected to a successor-entity in the case of the sale of the assets of Cambridge Day, corporate reorganization, merger, change in control or other similar transaction.

Remember that any information you share in public areas, such as the Cambridge Day comments area, becomes public and therefore this privacy policy does not apply to any information you choose to make public. 

Anonymous Information is any information other than personally identifiable information, including aggregate information derived from personally identifiable information.

Cambridge Day may use this information:

  • to improve the Cambridge Day website and service
  • to monitor traffic and general usage patterns and for other general business purposes
  • to inform publishers as to what content is appealing to readers
  • to inform advertisers regarding circulation
  • and to advise potential donors so that they may better understand the Public Press’s user base.

Cookies 

A cookie is a small amount of data which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from a web site’s servers and stored on your computer. Each website can send cookies to your browser if your browser’s preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) most browsers only permit a website to access the cookies that the same website has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

Cambridge Day may use cookies to identify you as a repeat visitor or customer of the website, to maintain session information for logged in users, and to track usage trends and patterns to better understand and improve areas of our website.

You are free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, but you may not be able to take full advantage of our site’s features.

We may use third-party plugins to provide extra functionality to our website and social media accounts. These companies may employ cookies and action tags to measure usage or, on their own platforms not under our direct control, advertising effectiveness. All computers and servers on the internet use IP addresses to recognize and communicate with each other. We collect IP addresses to administer and analyze our site and report aggregate, non-personal information (such as how many visitors we have). When you call up our site on your computer, our servers enter the IP address of that computer into a log. To maintain our users’ anonymity, we do not associate IP addresses with records containing personal information.

We do not and cannot use cookies or IP address tracking to retrieve personal information from your computer.

Security

Cambridge Day employs a number of security methods designed to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure correct use of information. Your personal data will be stored within a database that is located behind a firewall for added security.

No data transmission over the internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be secure. As a result, while we try to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. We are not liable for the illegal acts of any third party.

We do not encrypt normal web sessions; however, any transmission to the Cambridge Day website or service of credit card information uses SSL encryption to help protect the data.

Links to Other Sites

Cambridge Day provides links and pointers to web sites maintained by other organizations. Cambridge Day provides these links as a convenience to users, but it does not operate or control such sites. Cambridge Day also disclaims any responsibility for the information on those sites and any products or services offered there and cannot vouch for the privacy policies of such sites. Cambridge Day does not make any warranties or representations that any linked sites, or this site, will function without error or interruption, that defects will be corrected, or that the sites and their servers are free of viruses and other problems that can harm your computer.

Opt Out

If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, we include detailed unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.

Children

Cambridge Day is not directed to children (persons under the age of 13), and we do not knowingly collect, either online or offline, personally identifiable information from children. If you believe that we have received information from a person under 13, please contact us by email at info@cambridgeday.org  and we will take appropriate action.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Cambridge Day may change its privacy policy from time to time. If we make any changes regarding disclosure of personally identifiable information to third parties, we will post notice of the new policy on our home page.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding our privacy policy or our use of your information, please email info@cambridgeday.org.

Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability 

Although we take reasonable steps to prevent the introduction of viruses, worms, or other destructive materials and programs to our site, we do not guarantee or warrant that our site or materials that may be downloaded from our site are free from such destructive features. We are not liable for any damages or harm attributable to such features. We are not liable for any claim, loss or injury based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies in our site, nor for any claim, loss or injury that results from your use of this site or your breach of any provision of this agreement.

Advertising Policy

Cambridge Day accepts paid advertising. Advertising will always be clearly separated from editorial content, and procedures are in place to ensure advertisers cannot influence editorial content.

Cambridge Day does occasionally promote events, initiatives and publications of partnering organizations that have not paid for these public service announcements. Cambridge Day will decline to accept messages that it knows or believes to be misleading, inaccurate, fraudulent or illegal, or that fails to comply, in the Cambridge Day’s sole discretion, with its standards of decency, taste or dignity.

Cambridge Day, like all high-quality publishers of original journalism, maintains a clear separation between news and promotional content. Advertising that attempts to blur this distinction in a manner that, in Cambridge Day’s sole judgment, confuses readers, will be rejected.

Conflict of interest 

This Conflict of Interest Policy is an effort to ensure that the deliberations and decisions of Cambridge Day are made solely in the interest of promoting the quality of journalism in Cambridge. A Cambridge Day Representative includes any director, advisory board member, financial advisor, legal counsel or employee.

Duty to Cambridge Day 

Each Cambridge Day Representative owes a duty to Cambridge Day to advance its legitimate interests when the opportunity to do so arises. Each Cambridge Day Representative must give undivided allegiance when making decisions affecting the organization. Similarly, Cambridge Day Representatives must be faithful to Cambridge Day’s nonprofit mission and are not permitted to act in a way that is inconsistent with the central goals of the organization and its nonprofit status. 

Each Cambridge Day Representative will notify the Board of Directors if they are involved in an activity that could reasonably be considered a conflict of interest.

Gifts
No Cambridge Day Representative shall personally accept gifts or favors that could compromise his or her loyalty to Cambridge Day. Any gifts or benefits personally accepted from a party having a material interest in the outcome of Cambridge Day or its employees by Cambridge Day Representative individually should be merely incidental to his or her role as a Cambridge Day Representative and should not be of substantial value. Any gift with a value of $250 or more, or any gifts with a cumulative value in excess of $250 received by a Cambridge Day Representative in any 12-month period from a single source, shall be considered substantial. Cash payments may not be accepted, and no gifts should be accepted if there are strings attached. For example, no Cambridge Day Representative may accept gifts if he or she knows that such gifts are being given to solicit his or her support of or opposition to the outcome or content of any Cambridge Day publication.

Political Involvement

Cambridge Day will not endorse political candidates in the organizations name

Cambridge Day Representatives will not run for public office in Cambridge

Cambridge Day Representatives will not use company emails, offices, staff or content to support a political cause or candidate in Cambridge

Representatives of Cambridge Day will not donate to municipal candidates for office in Cambridge (including City Council and School Committee).

Cambridge Day Representatives will not serve on the board of political parties or Political Action Committees (PACs).  

Personal loans
Cambridge Day may not loan to, or guarantee the personal obligations of, any Cambridge Day Representative.

Equity and Inclusion

Cambridge Day aims to reflect the diversity of the community it serves.