STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE
As the editorially independent arm of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Arts Paper seeks to celebrate, explore, investigate and interrogate the fine, visual, performing, public and culinary arts in and around New Haven.
The publication’s lens on arts, culture & community is intentionally broad, to make space for how the arts and humanities are often applied in civic space.
Five years ago, the Arts Paper moved from a membership-based, monthly print publication to a digital daily with complete editorial independence. In accordance with the Board of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and supervised by an Arts Paper Advisory Committee, the Arts Paper made this move to more fairly and equitably serve the New Haven community. Prior to this time, the Arts Paper disproportionately dedicated its resources to white artists and institutions.
Five years later, the Arts Paper believes that joy, justice and anti-racism can and should be part of journalism. This includes telling stories of, by, and with the Greater New Haven community through an anti-racist lens, amplifying historically marginalized voices and the voices of youth, diving deep into the role that the arts play in public education, and making the arts feel accessible through the written word, multimedia reporting, and youth reporting.
Our stance on editorial independence also allows the Arts Paper to freely cover arts organizations in Greater New Haven in a manner that holds power to account while not compromising the relationship of the Arts Council to those institutions. In the past five years, examples have included sexual misconduct, sexual assault, and allegations of racism at multiple arts institutions across the city. The Arts Paper includes the Arts Council in this list of institutions.
The Arts Paper seeks to be financially transparent in this process. The Arts Paper receives funding from individual donors, one-time and multi-year grants, and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. A list of major funders, as well as filed 990s of the Arts Council, is available under the “About Us” page at the Arts Council website.
In accordance with the ethics of journalism, both individual and institutional funders do not, and may not, participate in editorial activities. While the Arts Paper welcomes pitches and suggestions from any and all members of the community, funders do not commission authors, develop storylines, approve or reject stories, or see drafts of stories before they run.
