Nashville Banner 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 all sources of 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. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content. If a supporter has given a total of $1,000 or more and is covered in a story or other editorial content, we disclose this at the bottom of the story.

We accept donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage.

We accept anonymous donations of less than $5,000 for general support, but only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place and the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization.

Our news judgments are made independently — not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content. We make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more on our list of supporters. This policy is adapted from guidelines issued by the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Statement of Diversity

The Nashville Banner was founded to empower ALL citizens of Nashville and Tennessee by providing independent, non-partisan journalism. To fulfill our mission, we must ensure our work reflects the communities we cover and our staff the population we serve. Building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive news organization necessitates ongoing commitments to both the community and the newsroom:

Community

The complex issues we face as a society require respect for different viewpoints. Race and ethnicity, class, generation, geography and other factors all affect point of view. To tell the stories of all of Nashville and Tennessee we commit to:

  • Including diverse voices and experiences in our reporting, especially those from outside dominant cultural perspectives
  • Telling and sharing stories with respect, empathy and accuracy
  • Being cognizant of the harms media institutions have too often perpetuated against historically disadvantaged communities
  • Actively working to break down stereotypes and bigotry

Newsroom

A diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace is essential for any news organization to succeed, leading to more nuanced stories and a better-informed community. We recognize this work can’t be done by one type of journalist, nor is it enough to simply hire journalists and staff from historically marginalized backgrounds. To promote diversity in journalism we commit to:

  • Increasing the range of backgrounds, experiences, and interests at the Nashville Banner
  • Listening carefully to the ideas of all staff members 
  • Creating a welcoming, inclusive, and rewarding work environment for all current and future staff
  • Enabling groups of people underrepresented in newsrooms to thrive and succeed in journalism as a career

Our goal is to make the Banner an example for other news organizations to follow by perpetually striving to promote diversity in journalism in Tennessee.

Note: This statement borrows or takes inspiration from the diversity statements of CalMatters, The Colorado Sun, The Marshall Project, The New York Times, ProPublica, and others. We thank them for their commitment to DEI in journalism.