T-Squared: Transparency is a Two-Way Street

Here at the Trib, we think transparency is paramount. We’ve demanded it of candidates, elected officials and state agencies, and we've tried to return the favor by way of posting comprehensive lists, in real time, of our own donors and sponsors, freely discussing the ins and outs of our business model and making available our 990s and and our audited financials as soon as they're prepared.

In recent months, however, we’ve heard a drumbeat from some of our most loyal readers, from folks who are deeply committed to the Tribune’s long-term viability, for even more information. We listened: We met with them, solicited their ideas and, unsurprisingly, discovered some key ways we could explain more about our business model and our day-to-day editorial operations. We're acting on the best suggestions.

We've started by publishing the Texas Tribune Code of Ethics, a set of guidelines we’ve closely followed since Day 1 but never thought to put in writing. The code outlines our mission, our commitment to accuracy and impartiality and the great lengths to which we go to avoid conflicts of interest or perceptions of them in our reporting and our funding.

We have long published corrections or clarifications to our articles on the same web page where the story appears. Going forward, we will also be publishing them on a standalone corrections page. You can send information about errors or omissions that warrant correction or clarification to corrections@texastribune.org.

Both the code of ethics and the corrections page are now easily accessible; they're linked from our home page.

These are important first steps, but the conversation isn't over; we welcome your feedback on our journalism and our business model and on additional ways we can live up to the highest and best journalistic values.