Policies
Editorial Independence • Opinions • Letters to the Editor • Obituaries • Sponsored Content • Donor Transparency • Corrections
Editorial Independence Policy
The Alameda Post 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.
Opinions Policy
The Alameda Post will publish opinion articles always with the author’s byline clearly stated. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and do not reflect the views of the Alameda Post, nor does our organization endorse any views the author may present.
Our objective as an independent news source is to fully reflect our community’s varied opinions without giving preference to a particular viewpoint. If you disagree with an opinion that we have published, please submit a rebuttal or differing opinion in a letter to the editor for publication.
All questions regarding this policy should be directed to to the Publisher, [email protected].
Letters to the Editor Policy
The Alameda Post will publish signed letters to the editor expressing the writer’s opinion at our discretion. These letters do not reflect the views of the Alameda Post, nor does our organization endorse any views presented.
Letters to the Editor should be emailed to [email protected] or addressed to Editor, Alameda Post, 1516 Oak Street Suite 203, Alameda, CA 94501.
- By submitting a letter for publication, you agree to give us the right to publish it in print and in digital form.
- Letters should be 500 words or less. Letters over the word limit will be edited at our discretion. All letters are subject to editing for style, mechanics and grammar.
- Letters should focus on the opinion/s of the writer, not facts.  Any statement of facts not generally known or accepted to be true will be removed.
- All letters must be signed by the writer, with address and phone number provided for verification. Letters will be printed with the author’s name and city of residence only.
- Anonymous letters will not be accepted. If you wish your name to be withheld, you must first verify your identity with us and provide a valid reason for withholding your name, which will be included with the letter.
- Letters containing language or content that is blatantly offensive or obscene, or that the Editor feels is inappropriate, will not be published.
- Letters that contain statements that are libelous or slanderous will not be published, nor will letters that include threats or attacks of a personal nature.
- Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand, rather than mentioning the writer by name, and should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Letters referring to news stories should also mention the headline and date of publication.
- Letters must be original and may not have been previously published in another publication.
- We will give preference to letters originating from Alameda residents.
All questions regarding this policy should be directed to to the Publisher, [email protected].
Obituaries
We will publish an obituary of up to 1,000 words submitted by family members or funeral homes. The publication fee is $100, which may be paid online or by check. The Post will publish the notice, with at least one and up to three photos of your choosing, notify you when it has been posted, and unless directed otherwise, we will share it online to our regular channels. Please email [email protected] for more details and to make arrangements.Â
Sponsored Content and Advertorials
We will publish sponsored/paid content or advertorials upon request. The fee per article is $150. If you prefer to have no other advertising injected into the content, the fee is $200. This fee must be paid online or by check in advance of publication.
Paid content will be clearly indicated when published, including a unique presentation on our website, a header and footer in the article stating that it is paid content and who paid for it, and stating that the content is sponsored in any excerpt shown on our website and our social media channels. We may also indicate the content is sponsored in the headline.
Example: Come to the City of Alameda’s 4th of July Parade.
We reserve the right to reject any content we deem to be unsuitable or incompatible with our publication or our mission. Â We will not edit or alter submitted content in any way other than to indicate it is sponsored.
Unless directed otherwise, we will share the content online to our regular channels. However, we cannot guarantee that our distribution channels will accept and allow the content to be distributed on their platforms.
Please email [email protected] for more details and to arrange payment.
Donor Transparency Policy
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. 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 donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates 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.
Corrections Policy
While we aim for error-free content, mistakes will occur from time to time. We uphold our journalistic integrity by correcting such errors in a timely manner.
We believe that with great power comes great responsibility. We aim to be accountable, accurate, and an authority.
When an error is detected within an article, we will immediately work to find the correct information and clearly display the corrections wherever possible within the article. The corrections will include:
- The correct information.
- What was originally published that was incorrect.
- The date (and time, if available) when the change took place.
- Whenever errors cannot be amended within the body of an article’s content, corrections are displayed clearly in the last paragraph of the news content. Rather than remove completely the content containing a mistake, we provide clarification and admittance of our mistakes to preserve transparency.
Any editorial complaints or correction requests should be emailed to [email protected] or addressed to Editor, Alameda Post, 1516 Oak Street Suite 203, Alameda, CA 94501.
