Code of Ethics and Editorial Guidelines
90.5 WESA Mission Statement
Our mission is to work for the public to inform people in ways that engage and inspire them to create dialog about community issues and stories.
90.5 WESA Code of Ethics
90.5 WESA has a deep commitment to truth, fairness, independence, objectivity and accuracy in all of its programming. This Code of Ethics has been assembled to establish guidelines for upholding those standards by all staff, independent journalists, student fellows and broadcasters at 90.5 WESA. It draws upon the Code of Ethics from other news organizations, including NPR, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Public Radio News Directors Incorporated, and the Editorial Integrity for Public Media project.
Conflict of Interest
90.5 WESA must uphold the trust of the public by not overlapping individual interest with professional responsibilities. 90.5 WESA staff members must immediately disclose potential conflicts to their supervisor.
90.5 WESA journalists may not accept any form of compensation from the individuals, institutions or organizations they cover. 90.5 WESA will pay for travel expenses of staff when covering a story.
Journalists covering a story must pay for their meals whenever possible, unless provided at conferences, conventions, where it is done out of ease for the entire press corps.
90.5 WESA may only accept complimentary passes to events if attendance will provide material or background for reviews, stories, or future programs or lead to a more substantial understanding of a particular topic, beat or organization. 90.5 WESA journalists are never obligated to complete any story on any organizations providing invitations or passes to events. To avoid perceived conflicts, 90.5 WESA journalists will, whenever possible, exercise enterprise to contact possible sources, finding sources independent of events and special interests.
90.5 WESA journalists may not sign political petitions.
Personal bias has no place in our reporting. Commentary and opinion must be clearly labeled as such. 90.5 WESA journalists may provide objective analysis, but must refrain from sharing their opinions on news stories in any venue or forum.
Financial Transparency
As a non-profit, community-licensed public media organization, we are committed to transparency in our work: including how we fund our work. You can find reports on our financials, our tax filings, and reports from our independent auditors on our website at:
https://pittsburghcommunitybroadcasting.org/reports-resources
We receive funding from multiple sources, including individuals, organizations, and corporations. When we accept that support, it does not mean that we endorse the products, services, or organizations with which the donor is associated. We also accept funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting: a nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress to act as steward of its investment in public broadcasting.
We do not accept donations from anonymous sources, but we will consider reasonable requests by a donor not to publish their identity. For example, if a foundation’s policies bar it from public recognition for a grant they give us, we will consider honoring its request that we not publicize the source of the gift.
We reserve the right to decline any donation from an individual or institution that would create a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict of interest, for our organization.
Funding and Journalism
Our journalistic decisions are made independently of our organization’s financial dealings.
To the extent that it is practical, when our journalism includes an organization or an individual that provides us with financial support, we disclose it. And when some of our journalism is underwritten by an organization or individual (such as a special series or a genre of content) we disclose that as well.
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.
Our journalists do not pay for information from sources or interviews with newsmakers, nor do they promise to include a source’s comments or point of view in exchange for participating in an interview.
Editorial Control
Our journalism is our own.
We do not give individuals or institutions that provide us with support the right to assign, review or edit content, nor do we give them advance or preferred access to the content we create. We always maintain editorial control and final responsibility for decisions related to story selection, editorial content, program hosts, guests and scheduling.
Underwriting Announcements
The announcements you hear on our air and see on our website acknowledging support from organizations and individuals are called “underwriting announcements”; they are not commercials and cannot be used to promote the products or service offerings of a for-profit entity. These announcements are subject to strict FCC rules and our own policies; you can learn about underwriting announcements here: Underwriting 101
We do not permit underwriting announcements that include advocacy language for any cause, group or individual. We do not permit underwriting announcements on behalf of political organizations, political candidates or their committees. We do not permit underwriting announcements that would violate an FCC rule or policy, violate our station policies or adversely affect the reputation or business of our organization.
90.5 WESA Editorial Guidelines
• A pursuit of the truth through accurate reporting that is informed by a disciplined methodology for verifying the facts.
• A spirit of transparency that respects the audience and shares with it how the news was gathered and reported.
• A dedication to coverage that reflects the fullness and richness of the community and strives to be comprehensive while keeping the news in proportion.
• A commitment to empower the audience so that people will be able to know what to believe and trust, make sense of issues for themselves, find other sources of information, and share ideas with others in the community.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Executive Editor Cindi Lash: clash@wesa.fm.