Editorial independence
Evanston RoundTable Media NFP subscribes 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.
Public comment moderation
Readers are encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions in the comment section beneath all news articles, feature stories and columns, as well as through our social media channels. We ask that you engage in respectful debate to make sure everyone’s voice is heard. However, this does not imply that the RoundTable agrees with or accepts the content, opinions, or views expressed within any public comment. The person posting a public comment is solely responsible for the content of their comment. Comments containing mean-spirited, libelous or ad hominem attacks will not be posted. Your full name and email is required in order to post a comment on our website. We do not post anonymous comments. Your e-mail address will not be posted. Our editors will try to post comments within a few hours, but there may be a longer delay at times.
Social media comment moderation
The Evanston RoundTable uses social networking platforms to connect and interact with different audiences. At this time, we share content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Within these social media platforms, the comments section is moderated by the RoundTable’s social media manager. We encourage participation and public interaction on our social media accounts and the content
we post. We ask that you engage in respectful debate to make sure everyone’s voice is heard. However, this does not imply that the RoundTable agrees with or accepts the content, opinions, or views expressed within any public comment. The person posting a public comment is solely responsible for the content of their comment.
While we do not discriminate against views or opinions posted to our various social media accounts, we reserve the right to delete, hide, and/or not approve certain comments. Much like our comments policy on our website, above, comments containing mean-spirited, libelous, or ad hominem attacks will be hidden or removed. This is not to say you can’t share your opinions or thoughts. If your comment violates our policy we hold the right to remove it, so we can be a safe space for others in the community.
Some of the reasons we may remove or hide a comment are:
● Abusive, vulgar, obscene, racist, threatening, or harassing comments.
● Libel, slander or personal attacks of any kind, including the use of offensive terms that target specific individuals or groups.
● Spam, including content that promotes products or services or contains gratuitous links
● Comments that suggest or encourage illegal, dangerous, or destructive activity.
● Name-calling, personal attacks, commercial promotion, impersonations, and
incoherence.