OUR MISSION:

Sojourners is an independent, award-winning print and online magazine of faith, culture, and politics. Our mission is to inspire hope and action by articulating the biblical call to racial and social justice, life and peace, and environmental stewardship.

Our call to prophetic interrogation means we seek the truth as informed by our biblical roots, uncover and explore injustices, and offer solutions consistent with our Christian values. We draw on a long and diverse tradition of Christians following Jesus and seeking justice, across different traditions, cultures, and times in history.

Our journalistic mission includes “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.” In our print and online news, analysis, and spiritual reflection, as well as our multimedia stories, we seek to be fair in our coverage, while not advancing false equivalencies. Our writers have a point of view, and we insist that they be accurate in their reporting and analysis; rigorous, comprehensive, and ethical in their methods; and transparent with readers about how they have arrived at their conclusions.

OUR CORE VALUES:

Excellence: Striving to achieve the highest quality of journalism, social analysis, and spiritual writing.

Life and Dignity: Promoting respect and honor for all members of the human family and the sacredness of creation.

Social Justice: The economically poor, politically marginalized, and socially vulnerable have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the church and the nation. We put to the moral test public and ecclesial policy decisions in terms of how they address these moral claims.

Global Community: Recognizing we are part of a global family that seeks peace and justice in all places, we work to center the witness of diverse voices across the globe.

EDITORIAL INTEGRITY AND INDEPENDENCE

The Editor of Sojourners and the Editor of sojo.net are responsible for the editorial content of Sojourners’ print and online publications, consistent with Sojourners’ mission. In the event of a conflict between the editorial staff and the Publisher or President, the Editor of Sojourners and the Editor of sojo.net will make the final decision.

Decisions about editorial content are the responsibility of Sojourners’ editorial team, free from the demands or influence of donors, advertisers, and organizational partners. Advertisements, donations, grants, or organizational partnerships for other purposes of Sojourners’ mission do not imply editorial endorsement nor do they have editorial influence. When Sojourners receives donations to support investigative or themed coverage, we will transparently identify the donor organization and maintain independent editorial control of the coverage. While our writers and editors will work collaboratively to bring the best writing forward, Sojourners’ editorial team makes final decisions over all content, headlines, and graphics. We do not offer a right of review before publication or allow any influence over editorial or artistic content or unauthorized distribution of content.

ETHICS POLICY

These policies are meant to guide Sojourners online and print publications as we execute our mission. In a rapidly changing media environment, we consider these guidelines to be a “living document” that will be updated from time to time, based on feedback from our journalists, from our readers, and from our perceptions of our changing needs. Because the circumstances under which information is obtained and reported vary widely from one case to the next, these guidelines should not be understood as covering every situation that might arise but will serve as our guide.

Following guidelines set by the Society of Professional Journalists, Sojourners editors and writers should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. They must disclose unavoidable conflicts, refuse gifts, favors, fees, special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility. They must be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; they do not pay for access to sources or information. Any travel provided by outside groups should be disclosed. Sojourners does not guarantee coverage in exchange for access. Sojourners will identify any content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not. Sojourners does not pay for interviews. Our writers must never plagiarize their own work or the work of others. This includes not only the written aspects of journalism, but also quotes, original ideas, and researched information. We include source attribution and, where necessary, added context.

As a Christian publication, Sojourners adheres to the ethical and moral standards set by the Associated Church Press and the Evangelical Press Association.

ADVERTISING

Sojourners editorial content is separated from advertising copy visually on the printed page and online display or through prominent identification of material as an “advertisement” in print or online. Sojourners prominently and transparently labels all sponsored content.

SOURCING AND ATTRIBUTION

Sojourners provides transparency about sourcing whenever possible. We strive to give readers appropriate context. We want to make our reporting as transparent to the readers as possible so they may know how and where we got our information. In rare circumstances, we may protect a source who faces significant risk.

UPDATES, CORRECTIONS, AND CLARIFICATIONS

Sojourners editors fact check articles as part of the editing process. When we make mistakes, we ask our readers to help hold us accountable. To request a correction for a factual error, send us an email at corrections@sojo.net. Our editorial team will carefully review any potential inaccuracy before making changes to a published piece. When we run a correction, clarification, or editors’ note, our goal is to tell readers, as clearly and quickly as possible, what was wrong and what is correct. Minor edits, such as spelling corrections, or new information may be added to an online piece without including a notification that the article has been updated. Corrections or clarifications for printed pieces will run first in the online version of the print article and then in the next available print edition. When we publish erroneous information on social networks, we should correct it on that platform.

TAKE-DOWN (UNPUBLISH) REQUESTS

Because of the ease with which our published content can be searched and retrieved online, even years after publication, we are sometimes asked to take down (or “unpublish”) articles from our website. As a matter of editorial policy, we do not grant take-down requests. Rare exceptions may be made, such as in the case of threat of physical harm. If a subject claims that the story is inaccurate, we will investigate and, if necessary, publish a correction and consider whether further editorial action is warranted.

OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE

Sojourners Incorporated, founded in 1971, is a donor-supported nonprofit. Sojourners print magazine, sojo.net, SojoAction and its campaign entities, and Sojourners business and development enterprises are incorporated as a 501(C)3 religious nonprofit organization. Our tax exempt number is: 23-7380554.

Sojourners’ Board of Directors are the fiduciaries responsible for steering Sojourners toward a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies compatible with Sojourners’ mission, making sure that Sojourners has adequate resources to advance its mission. The president is responsible to the Board of Directors.

COMMENT ON A STORY

If you would like to write a response to anything we publish, consider posting a comment online. You may also send email responses to response@sojo.net.

SUBMISSIONS

We welcome pitches from freelance contributors. See How to Pitch to Sojourners for detailed instructions.

REPRINT REQUESTS

For inquiries about republishing, reprinting, or translating our stories, please contact us at reprints@sojo.net. You can repost the first three paragraphs of an article without requesting permission as long as you credit Sojourners at the top of the story, republish the excerpt verbatim, and link back to the original post at sojo.net.