Our
Policies:

How We Operate

Our stories are free to the public, with no paywalls or ads, and published on Maui Now’s website through a partnership with for-profit Pacific Media Group, a primary funder of our work. While the partnership allows HJI to share its work on Maui Now’s platform, the two organizations each maintain their independence and control editorial decisions within their own newsrooms. 

HJI is overseen by a Maui-based board of directors. The board serves to hold HJI’s staff, operations and funding accountable and does not make day-to-day editorial decisions. 

As a nonprofit, HJI operates through the support of generous donors. Funding helps pay our staff livable wages and furthers the work we do to keep our community informed at no cost to the public. However, donations do not influence our editorial decisions. The driving force of our reporting is for the public’s benefit, not special interests. The viewpoints of donors may not always reflect the values of the nonprofit; if legitimate ethical questions are raised about a donor’s activities, HJI may decide to refuse a donation. HJI also maintains the right to publicize large donors in the spirit of transparency.

If HJI seeks out grants to fund specific roles, projects or stories, the source of funding will be publicized along with the work it supports. 

HJI’s staff and board members are made up of current and former media professionals, and we strive to meet journalistic standards for accurate, unbiased, fact-based reporting. We aim to be inclusive in our work and elevate voices regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, religion, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability/neurodiversity or socioeconomic status. 

When doing stories and seeking sources, HJI also adheres to the following policies: 

Stories + Media

• HJI accepts story suggestions from all sources. However, decisions on story selections ultimately rest with the newsroom staff of HJI. 
• HJI does not allow anyone beyond the newsroom to preview stories prior to publication. Staff may reconfirm details and quotes with sources for accuracy; however, sources cannot make changes to verbatim, on-the-record statements after the fact, and they cannot decide which statements or information will be published.
• Photos, videos or audio produced by HJI staff may undergo minor edits for quality or framing (such as lightening a dark setting or cropping a wide photo), but they may not be altered in a way that affects the original substance or meaning. 
• Photo, video and audio submissions from the public will be accepted and published with proper permission and credit. Submissions must adhere to the same standards as content produced by HJI staff.   
• HJI content may be republished in other media outlets by request, and with full credit to the original author or creator. 
• HJI follows AP style guidelines in stories, with occasional exceptions made for the purposes of clarity. For Hawaiian language words and place names, HJI refers to Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library.
• HJI will work to make corrections to inaccuracies as quickly as possible, both online and on social media. 

Sources

• HJI staff will always identify themselves to sources and request permission before recording or putting an interview on the record. Sources must indicate to staff when they would like to share information on background (meaning it may be used, but not attributed to the source) or off the record (meaning the information cannot be publicly shared). 
• HJI staff will make the best effort to reach sources through known forms of contact and allow a reasonable amount of time to respond. Sources may have a smaller window of time to respond in critical, time-sensitive situations. HJI will explain when the reporter has made an effort to reach a source and has been unable to get a comment. 
• HJI strives to put information and sources on the record, with full names. However, HJI may allow the use of anonymous sources provided HJI has determined that the source is credible, the information is vital to the story and only the source in question can provide it. The reporter as well as a supervising editor must know who the source is and must keep their identity confidential. 
• In keeping with the Associated Press and other media outlets, HJI will not identify survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence unless they give permission.  
• HJI does not pay for interviews and does not accept payment or gifts in exchange for doing an interview or story.