We’re Your Environmental Watchdog

Our mission: ecoRI News is dedicated to reporting on environmental and social justice issues in southern New England. Through our reporting, we create a more informed public and provide individuals with the information they need to be better stewards of their environment.

ecoRI Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with the IRS. We depend on the support of individuals, foundations and businesses that recognize the importance of local news delivered from an independent perspective.

Editorial policy

Through our reporting, we aim to shine a light on the region’s complex environmental issues. Our primary responsibility is to our readers and the public trust. In our work, we will strive for accuracy in reporting the news; maintain editorial independence from our funders; be transparent about any perceived conflicts of interest, and operate without hidden agendas or biases. As a nonprofit newsroom, we do not advocate for any political causes.

Editorial independence

As a nonprofit, ecoRI News relies on funding from a variety of sources: individual donations, advertising and corporate sponsorship, foundation grants, and event tickets. In all cases, however, our policy when it comes to editorial independence remains the same: All editorial decisions are made by our journalists — and only our journalists — in pursuit of any and all stories we deem newsworthy. Those who contribute to or do business with ecoRI News do so with the understanding that they are not entitled to preferential treatment, and that their financial support does not protect our donors, funders, advertisers or sponsors from journalistic scrutiny. Whenever a story mentions a major funder or a member of our board of directors, we will disclose that relationship in the story.

Artificial intelligence

All articles will be authored by human beings. Artificial Intelligence will not be used to draft or write stories.

Corrections

We strive to uphold the highest standards of accuracy. Still, we will make mistakes. When we do, we will correct the story and denote the story has been updated.

Sourcing and attribution

We will try our best to identify all sources, granting individuals anonymity only when it is necessary to do so. We will also seek to identify relevant affiliations and known biases of our sources as they relate to a story, and we will always make efforts to contact the primary subjects and sources of criticism in our news coverage. Our journalists will never misrepresent themselves or mislead a source to get an interview or a story. ecoRI News does not pay for interviews.

Fact checking and context

Claims and reports will be fact-checked for veracity before publication. Reports will provide context for the reader to understand the facts and claims presented in a story.

Conflicts of interest

ecoRI News journalists will not work on stories or projects in which they have a unique vested interest, financial or personal. They should avoid active, direct investment in companies or industries they regularly cover.

Secondary employment or freelance work by any of our staff or contract journalists must be cleared by an editor to ensure the work does not conflict with their responsibilities at ecoRI News.

Editorial employees may moderate panels or speak at events so long as their role is purely journalistic. ecoRI News employees, contractors and interns will not accept any gift from any company, individual or institution that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility. We always pay our own way when traveling for editorial purposes.

Equity Statement

Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the worst effects climate change and environmental degradation. Reflecting the reality of this injustice in our reporting is key to:

• giving our readers a deeper understanding of the issues;
• giving voice to communities historically underrepresented in mainstream media, and
• growing our reach.

To advance greater equity in information and leadership, we must report on the intersection of racial and environmental injustices by listening to and by building trust with communities of color so that we may tell their stories in an authentic and meaningful way. When our reporting is inclusive and reflective of all communities, we, as a news organization fulfill our mission of serving as an environmental watchdog for everyone.

Financial Statements

ecoRI News provides 990 statements for the past three fiscal years. Documents can be viewed by clicking links below:

• 2022 ecoRI 990 (PDF)
• 2021 ecoRI 990 (PDF)
• 2020 ecoRI 990 (PDF)
• 2019 ecoRI 990 (PDF)
• 2018 ecoRI 990 (PDF)

Donations

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. Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.

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We will make public all donors who give $1000 or more per year. As a nonprofit, we will not accept donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates actively 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.

$1000+ Donors and Foundations (2023 and 2024)

Individuals:
Betty Bourret
Joanna Bush
Donna Cameron
Marcia Carini
Vanessa Carlton
Will Collette
Sandra Craig
Margaret Curran
George Denny
Cliff Detz
Joanna Detz and Frank Carini
Erin Eliott
Pam Faulkner
Tom and Suzanne Ferrio
Peter and Lucia Gill Case
Anne Holland
Angela Haderman
Sandra Krupp
David Latham
Lisa Lewis
James Lynch
Beth and Russ Milham
Sarah Morenon
Thomas Palmer
Lisette Prince
Lorraine Schmitt
Julie and Henry Sharpe
George Shuster
Austin Smith
Mike Stanton
Peter and Frances Trafton
George Voutes
Deborah Wiley

Foundations and businesses:
11th Hour Racing
Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Bryn Mawr Trust
EJMP Fund for Philanthropy
Everhope Foundation
The GroundTruth Project
Gruben Charitable Foundation
Horace J. Kimball Foundation
Horsley Witten Group
INSPIRE Environmental
June Rockwell Levy Fund
LION Publishers
Pulitzer Center
Reva & David Logan Foundation
The Miami Foundation
The Island Foundation
The Rhode Island Foundation
Texas Instruments Foundation
Utilidata
van Beuren Charitable Foundation