ABOUT SAHAN JOURNAL

• 2024 Audit Report
• 2024 Form 990
• 2023 Audit Report
• 2023 Form 990
• 2022 Audit Report
• 2022 Form 990
• 2021 Audit Report
• 2021 Form 990
• 2020 Audit Report
• 2020 Form 990

Our tax identification number is 83-2745995. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

We subscribe 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 Sahan Journal’s Membership Standards.

Preamble

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity.

The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media.

Seek truth and report it

Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Journalists should:

• Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.
• Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.
• Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story.
• Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.
• Be cautious when making promises, but keep the promises they make.
• Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.
• Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may face danger, retribution or other harm, and have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Explain why anonymity was granted.
• Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.
• Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public.
• Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless.
• Support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
• Recognize a special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government. Seek to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open, and that public records are open to all.
• Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate.
• Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.
• Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting.
• Label advocacy and commentary.
• Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.
• Never plagiarize. Always attribute.

Minimize harm

Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.

Journalists should:

• Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.
• Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes, and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent. Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment.
• Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast.
• Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information.
• Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.
• Balance a suspect’s right to a fair trial with the public’s right to know. Consider the implications of identifying criminal suspects before they face legal charges.
• Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.

Act independently

The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.

Journalists should:

• Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
• Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.
• Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for access to news. Identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not.
• Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.
• Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. Prominently label sponsored content.

Be accountable and transparent

Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Journalists should:

• Explain ethical choices and processes to audiences. Encourage a civil dialogue with the public about journalistic practices, coverage and news content.
• Respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.
• Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.
• Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations.
• Abide by the same high standards they expect of others.

More information about SPJ and its Code of Ethics is available at www.spj.org.

Sahan Journal provides communities of color with free, fair, and responsive journalism that shows everyone the way to a more equitable Minnesota. 

Historically, American newsrooms have often perpetuated inequality, both in the stories they tell about people of color and the way they operate as workplaces. 

Over the past five years, Sahan has grown into a 23-person nonprofit organization, with a newsroom that includes reporters, editors, producers, data journalists, visual journalists, community engagement managers, and interns/fellows. AI technology can support our staff not just to perform their usual work, but to expand our organization’s service, scope, and ambition. 

At the same time, we recognize that AI also presents the field of journalism with many potential problems. In exploring and using AI technology, Sahan Journal is committed to following its organizational goals and ethics guidelines. 

Sahan’s values

Some of these ethical principles can be found in Sahan’s strategic vision (published 2024). Here are a few that apply: 

• We perform our work ethically and are accountable for our actions.
• We foster a workplace culture that is open, respectful, collaborative, transparent, and receptive to new ideas.

What’s in this document

We’ve created the AI guidelines in this document (draft version, November 2024) to help everyone in the organization think about the right ways to use AI technology in our work and workplace. It may be tempting to focus just on our reporting and publishing. But many questions and quandaries about AI technology will arise in other areas of the company. That includes Sahan’s advertising department; its development and membership programs; and its operations, finance, and human resources.

Building and maintaining trust with our readers lies at the core of everything we do. 

What our stakeholders and our staff need to know about Sahan’s AI policies

Transparency in our use of AI:

Many newsrooms have begun to explore how AI technology can assist with a variety of editorial newsroom tasks, from scraping data to transcribing interviews to improving headlines for SEO and readability. That said, Sahan Journal values the importance of original news gathered and reported by human journalists. We will not use AI to replace our staff/journalists. 

It’s imperative that Sahan staff, editors, and leadership communicate frequently and transparently about where and when we use AI.  To that end,  

• We will disclose to our readers when AI plays a key role in producing reader-facing content. For example, using AI to collect and tabulate data for a story, build a reader-facing AI assistant, etc.
• All AI-assisted/generated content published by Sahan Journal will be clearly labeled as such.

Appropriate uses of AI: 

Sahan Journal encourages experimentation with AI in our organization — while urging vigilance, caution, and transparency. 

Permissible uses:

• Journalists may experiment with AI tools to conduct data analysis, summarize and sort public records, transcribe audio, assist with SEO and headline writing, and generate alternate versions of human-created content for different platforms (e.g. social media posts).
• AI may be used in the production of non-journalistic content or to enhance our organization’s internal workflow. 
• Staff in non-editorial departments such as advertising and development are encouraged to experiment with AI in their workflow, such as copywriting, data collection/analysis, automating tasks, etc. 

Banned uses:

• Journalists will not use AI as their main source of knowledge in their newsgathering process. They must include and prioritize standard reporting practices: interviewing sources, reviewing documents, etc. They will not use AI to generate editorial content unless it has gone through a rigorous fact-checking process.
• Journalists will not use AI to alter news photos/videos. Sahan Journal will not publish AI-generated news photos/videos unless the technology itself is the main subject of the story.

Oversight for Sahan newsroom and the role of human journalists:

• Journalists must disclose to their editors when they’re using AI as a key tool in the news-gathering process.
• Staff will disclose their use of AI to their managers and experiment with caution. All AI-assisted work will be reviewed by human staffers. 
• AI can be a source of misinformation and disinformation. Journalists must exercise their due diligence to identify and verify AI-generated information during reporting.
• All AI-generated content will be verified and edited by a human journalist before publishing. 

Data privacy:

• Data privacy is a paramount concern for Sahan Journal. This value extends from our reporting processes to our human resources systems. AI companies have widely created models by scraping and using data without permission from creators. These practices do not meet Sahan’s standards, and have raised broad concern for journalists and many other professional fields. 
• Some AI products have created secure methods to protect and isolate data from their training models. Practically, this means the data remains visible to Sahan staff but separate from the public. Other AI technologies do not follow this practice: These materials do not remain secure or private. 
• Sahan Journal’s AI team will create and disseminate clear guidelines and offer training to help staff protect data of all sorts – especially sensitive, confidential, and private information about sources and documents. 
• We urge staff not to put confidential or sensitive information into AI tools without consulting Sahan’s AI specialist and/or our organization’s specific guidelines. 

Accountability:

• AI systems learn from vast troves of data that are collected from various sources. These data sources often contain implicit or explicit biases, which can result in AI systems reflecting and sometimes amplifying those biases. Sahan Journal takes pride in accurately reflecting the communities we cover. We will routinely assess AI tools for potential biases, especially those that may misrepresent or harm marginalized communities.
• Sahan Journal will periodically organize staff training on AI to increase AI literacy in the organization.
• Sahan Journal is part of the American Journalism Project’s Product & AI Studio cohort, which receives funding from OpenAI. OpenAI, a leading AI company, provides funding and AI-model access to the American Journalism Project. While Sahan Journal staff may experiment with OpenAI products, our news and organizational judgments are made independently and not based on donor support.
• Sahan Journal will create opportunities for feedback from readers regarding the use of AI. Have questions or feedback regarding Sahan Journal’s use of AI? Please email contact@sahanjournal.com.

AI keeps evolving; Sahan will, too

As AI technology evolves, so will this guide. Any major changes to our AI usage or policies will be communicated clearly to our readers. Sahan Journal’s leadership team and AI specialist will review and update this guide when the organization deploys new AI tools in our work. 

This guideline was last updated on Nov. 8, 2024.