The Fulcrum is a platform where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives.

Image of American flag waving in the breeze.

Our funders

The Fulcrum is a project of and funded by the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. Founding funds were provided by: Hewlett Foundation, the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, Arnold Ventures, the Unite America Institute, the Gaia Fund, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Lizzie and Jonathan M. Tisch Foundation and the Thornburg Foundation. We are also beneficiaries of the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

EDITORIAL & REPORTING GUIDELINES

Introduction

Editorial and journalistic integrity is integral to our ability to achieve our mission of being a trusted platform where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk and act to repair our democracy.

It is critical that we adhere to foundational principles and values expressed here in order to garner the confidence and respect of our readers. We cannot foster the citizenship and culture we espouse without this commitment.

Therefore, in an effort to be impartial and to publish content that offers equity, opportunity and adherence to facts, we will:

  • Approach news stories with an open and skeptical mind, and with a determination, through research and critical thinking, to acquaint our readers with a wide range of viewpoints.
  • As best we can, remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and sharing of opinion pieces.
  • Commit to do our utmost to verify the accuracy and credibility of all information we receive.

Feedback and corrections

  • We will provide individuals or entities the opportunity to challenge us if we do not fulfill the responsibilities stated in this document and will respond accordingly as long as criticism is fact-based.
  • When we make errors, we will acknowledge and correct our errors in a timely and public manner via published corrections.

Opinion Essays

When The Fulcrum has content that presents a point of view, it will be clearly identified and labeled as such. As opposed to news reporting, these writings will be given more latitude as to personal and artistic expressions, so long as they are not inaccurate or defamatory.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The Fulcrum will not lobby for or endorse candidates.

We are bound by a rigorous prohibition against lobbying for and/or endorsing candidates.

Editing Content

The Fulcrum's intent is to be objective in the editing process to ensure that the intent of the writer or producer is not altered.

Identifying Sources

The Fulcrum is committed to clearly identifying our sources. Best practice dictates that there must be at least two independent sources on the record (one might be a document) before publishing controversial factual assertions.

Diversity Among Sources

The Fulcrum encourages our staff and guest columnists to consider diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, geographic and economic status as a positive value when sourcing articles and essays.

Additional Items

Due to the complexity of operating a news and opinion publication, it is impossible for this document to cover all possible situations. Those items not specifically covered will be guided by the principles of fairness, transparency and desire to adhere to generally accepted journalistic principles.

Debilyn Molineaux, co-publisher

David L. Nevins, co-publisher

Mitchell Schmale, general manager

David Meyers, executive editor

Sara Swann, staff writer

Jeff Clements, columnist

Brad Fitch, columnist

Chris Gates, columnist

Mark Gerzon, columnist

Dr. Ivan Douglas Hicks, columnist

Mario H. Lopez, columnist

Carolyn Lukensmeyer, columnist

Manu Meel, columnist

Dr. Robert Pearl, columnist

Lisa T. Rice, columnist

Brian Rubin, columnist

Pete Weichlein, columnist

Wendy Willis, columnist

Layla Zaidane, columnist

Eliza Carney, contributing writer

The Advisory Board provides guidance to the The Fulcrum team by validating our mission, reviewing our work and suggesting future endeavors. While the board does not set policy, its members play a significant role in advising senior leadership on best practices, areas of coverage and strategic planning. Members of the board are not compensated for their time, nor do they hold a financial stake in The Fulcrum.

Potential advisers are invited to join the board based on their understanding of the media landscape and the mission of The Fulcrum. Advisers are expected to be regular readers and promoters of The Fulcrum's work.

Board Members

Eric Ashman, president M.M.LaFleur, founder of Bothered Mind Advisors

Ashman is the president of M.M.LaFleur, and previously served as president of Group Nine Media and as the CFO of the Huffington Post. Ashman is on the advisory board of EforAll Roxbury, an organization with the mission of accelerating economic and social impact in underserved communities through inclusive entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Leadership Council of Voter Choice Massachusetts, working to implement Ranked Choice Voting in cities and towns across the state. Ashman is also the founder of Bothered Mind Advisors, where he regularly teaches the concepts of building scalable, profitable startups through his Pivot to Profitability framework.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Lisa Brown, vice president & general counsel, Georgetown University

Brown provides general legal counsel to the President, the University's governing boards, and its senior academic and administrative officers among other duties. Prior to joining Georgetown, she served in the Obama administration, first as White House staff secretary then as acting chief performance officer at the Office of Management and Budget. Prior to joining the administration, Brown served for six years as the executive director of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy.

Michael Golden, author, Unlock Congress

Golden is a journalist, social entrepreneur and public speaker who serves as senior fellow at the Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy. He gives presentations on Unlock Congress to universities, companies, non-profit organizations and political associations. Golden has worked as a campaign manager and communications strategist on political races for the White House, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. He co-founded One Million Degrees, a non-profit scholarship program for low-income community college students in Illinois.

Myra Miller, senior vice president, The Winston Group

Miller has worked with House and Senate Republicans on strategic planning, communications and policy issues for more than a decade. Recently she has worked on a variety of policy issues and bipartisan initiatives specifically dealing with governance, including Congressional reform, and improving political discourse. She has done research on women voters and has worked with Members of Congress on how to talk to women voters. Miller has worked with Fortune 100 corporations and associations on key policy issues including health care, medical innovation and tax policy, as well as brand reputation.

David H. Nevins, president & CEO, Nevins & Associates

David is president & CEO of Nevins & Associates, a communications firm based in Towson, Md. Prior to founding Nevins & Associates in 1983, David served as the Director of Marketing for both Towson University and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he was tapped by the CEO of Comcast to employ his marketing expertise as president of the company's regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. David transformed the operation into a nationally recognized regional network with extensive local news and programming that garnered seven Emmy Awards. David is a former Chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland, chaired the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission and the Maryland Higher Education Loan Corporation, and served as president of the Jewish National Fund. He has served on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, and Towson University.

Ellen Shearer, executive editor, Medill Washington

Shearer hold a number of positions at Medill: the William F. Thomas Professor, executive editor of Medill Washington and co-director of the Medill National Security Journalism initiative. She has written and taught extensively in the areas of political journalism, national security journalism and watchdog journalism. Shearer is a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation and since 1999 has coordinated judging for the White House Correspondents' Association's awards. Her most recent book is "Truth Counts: A Practical Guide for News Consumers."

assets.rbl.ms

Please share your ideas, suggestions and criticisms with us. We want your feedback.

To submit news stories, events or job listings, or to comment on our coverage, email newsroom@fulcrum.us. To suggest pop-culture content, email pop-culture@fulcrum.us. To submit a proposal for our Opinion section, email opinions@fulcrum.us.

To report an error or complaint, please email newsroom@fulcrum.us. We review every complaint and request for a correction carefully. When we determine a correction is in order, we fix the error in the article and append a note explaining what was corrected.

To support our work through a donation, contact Kristina Becvar.

If you do not see your view or perspective represented in The Fulcrum, please email us at opinions@fulcrum.us.

© Issue One. All rights reserved.