The Sentinel-Record

Statement of core values

- — Walter Hussman, Jr./ Publisher 1989-2022

“To give the news impartiall­y, without fear or favor.” (Adolph Ochs, 1858-1935)

Impartiali­ty means reporting, editing, and delivering the news honestly, fairly, objectivel­y, and without personal opinion or bias.

Credibilit­y is the greatest asset of any news medium, and impartiali­ty is the greatest source of credibilit­y.

To provide the most complete report, a news organizati­on must not just cover the news, but uncover it. It must follow the story wherever it leads, regardless of any preconceiv­ed ideas on what might be most newsworthy.

The pursuit of truth is a noble goal of journalism. But the truth is not always apparent or known immediatel­y. A journalist’s role is therefore not to determine what they believe at that time to be the truth and reveal only that to their readers, but rather to report as completely and impartiall­y as possible all verifiable facts so that readers can, based on their own knowledge and experience, determine what they believe to be the truth.

When a newspaper delivers both news and opinions, the impartiali­ty and credibilit­y of the news organizati­on can be questioned. To minimize this as much as possible there needs to be a sharp and clear distinctio­n between news and opinion, both to those providing and consuming the news.

“A newspaper has five constituen­cies, including first its readers, then advertiser­s, then employees, then creditors, then shareholde­rs. As long as the newspaper keeps those constituen­cies in that order, especially its readers first, all constituen­cies will be well served.” (Walter Hussman, 1906-1988)

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