Community Guidelines

We strive to create online spaces inclusive of all audience members from a variety of perspectives, opinions and backgrounds and to foster discussion about issues that we cover and that are in our community.

These guidelines aim to provide clarity on the actions taken by the publication regarding user conduct on social media platforms. We welcome civil discussions but we may take action against hate speech, spam, harassment, misinformation, inappropriate content, uncivil behavior, threats or intimidation of specific groups or individuals.

In order to maintain a civil discourse we may take the following actions:

• Delete comments
• Restrict or block accounts
• Respond to misinformed statements and add context

For inquiries about specific actions or violations please reach out to [email protected]

Editorial Policy

The Long Beach Post is committed to the principles of accuracy, transparency, integrity, fairness and thoroughness, which form the basis of the Code of Ethics established by the Society of Professional Journalists.

These principles guide every decision we make, as maintaining the public’s trust is essential to what we do.

Fairness

We will do our jobs with fairness, accuracy and independence, which means we seek opposing views, as well as responses from those whose conduct is questioned in news stories or those who may be cast in a negative light.

Accuracy

We seek information from credible sources, whether from documents or people. Whenever possible we seek original source material to support our reporting, as well as interviews with people as close to the issue as possible. We do not present unverified information from social media, the police scanner, a member of the public or other questionable sources as fact; if such information is useful or necessary in a story, we describe the potential problems with this information in the story, and/or indicate in a prominent place that it has not been verified.

Edits, retractions and corrections after publishing

We generally do not remove stories, photos or other content from the web or social media. Decisions to do so should be made at the senior management level, with appropriate consultation. We must balance the reason for the request with the public’s right to know, being sensitive to individuals who may be harmed, either physically or emotionally, professionally, financially or reputationally, by our coverage.

Use of unnamed sources

Trust and credibility with our readers and our community are foundational to the journalistic mission of the Long Beach Post. Occasionally, in the course of our reporting, it may be necessary for our reporters to rely on unnamed sources.

This is an infrequent practice, taken with great caution, to provide information that is important to the public—and essential to a story—only when such information is unavailable by other means.

Reporters should make every effort to verify the information provided and only grant anonymity in an article if there is a compelling reason to do so, such as fear of retaliation.

The identity of unnamed sources are always known to the Post. Besides the reporter, at least one high-ranking editor or department head must also know the identity of the source and must approve inclusion in the story.

We do not publish information without knowing where it came from, and we should make every effort to explain as much as possible to readers about the source without revealing his or her identity.

Reporters and editors should be satisfied that unnamed sources have a factual basis for the information they’re providing before publishing it.

Unnamed sources should not be granted anonymity simply to speculate about something, attack someone or promote a point of view.

Disclosures of conflicts of interest

The Long Beach Post and its employees should strive to remain independent of all outside interests, avoiding even the appearance of a conflict.

Employees should not have a financial stake in anything they cover, including stock holdings, employment and other work that would involve payment. This also applies to a spouse or close relative of the employee.

Employees of the Long Beach Post can participate in various groups, such as religious groups, nonprofits and other hobby or recreational groups. We should avoid, however, any political office or positions of power that would put us in conflict with our role at the company.

Participating in political marches, rallies and other such events should be avoided, as well as giving endorsements or campaign contributions to those seeking office. It is best to first clear these affiliations and activities by an editor or supervisor.

We pay our own way. We avoid taking free meals, gifts, money or other valuables, generally anything worth more than $25. Costs associated with activities we cover should be expensed and covered by the Long Beach Post, with approval from a supervisor. Exceptions to this can of course be made, such as eating a meal at someone’s home if it would be rude not to do so. Use caution, and consult with an editor or supervisor when appropriate.

Employees should not use their affiliation with the Long Beach Post to gain access to any event (unless they are covering it), to curry favor in a personal matter, to facilitate a purchase or transaction, to get better or faster service, and certainly not to threaten anyone.

Advertising Policy

We maintain a strict separation between our editorial and advertising departments. Decisions as to what should be covered in the news section are to be made independent of any monetary or business interests of the Long Beach Post.

We do not “charge” for news coverage; we cover what is newsworthy. We can and should, however, share news coverage plans with the advertising/business side.

We review all advertisements before publishing. We reserve the right to, at our discretion, refuse to publish any advertisement whether or not a contract has been executed. If we do refuse to publish an advertisement, no fee will be charged to the Advertiser unless the Advertiser is unable or refuses to provide alternative copy/images in a reasonable time frame.

We reserve the right to decline an Advertiser’s request to advertise with us entirely, or withdraw any advertisement from publication at any time, without giving reasons, even if we have previously published the same or similar advertisement.

Political Advertisements

The Long Beach Post accepts, at its discretion, advertising from political candidates and measures. All political advertisements must comply with the requirements of the California DISCLOSE Act, including (but not limited to) the disclosure of the person or entity who funded the advertisement.

Sponsored Content

Sponsored content is paid advertisement from a Long Beach Post Partner in article and/or video format. Sponsored content (sometimes referred to as “native advertising”) is clearly marked with a “SPONSORED” tag.

All sponsored content goes through editorial review to ensure it is factually correct and meets the Long Beach Post’s standards for ethical journalism. These stories/ads are not to be written/produced by anyone in the news department, in order to keep separation between news and the business interests of the Long Beach Post.

Likewise, all sponsored social media content—that is, social media posts paid for by an Advertiser—must be clearly marked with a “SPONSORED” tag.

Privacy Policy

We may collect certain non-personally identifiable information when you visit any of our web sites such as the type of browser you are using, the type of operating system you are using, and the domain name of your Internet service provider.

For the purpose of receiving email alerts, we do collect your email address which enters into our master email database. We will never release your email address to anyone, except in the case of disclosing your email address in response to any legal process.

We use non-personally identifiable information that we collect to improve the design and content of our site and to enable us to personalize your Internet experience. We also may use this information to analyze site usage, as well as to offer you products, programs, or services.

We may disclose personally identifiable information, such as an email address, in response to any legal process. We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency’s request, or where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, and applicable laws or as otherwise required or permitted by law or consistent with legal requirements. In addition, we may transfer personally identifiable information about you if we are acquired by, sold to, or merged with another company.

Agents and contractors who have access to personally identifiable information are required to protect this information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy by, for example, not using the information for any purpose other than to carry out the services they are performing for us.

Some of our sites contain links to other sites whose information practices may be different than ours. You should consult the other sites’ privacy notices as we have no control over information presented by third-parties.

We may update this Privacy Policy at any time without notice. It is your responsibility to check back often for any revisions to this policy.