Advertising, sponsorships, marketing services, event partnerships, and other business relationships do not determine our coverage, reporting, or conclusions. Editorial decisions rest on newsworthiness, public interest, accuracy, fairness, and evidence — and businesses, nonprofits, government, schools, officials, and advertisers all face the same standards.

Ownership and funding. The Geneseo Current is owned and operated by Geneseo Media Group, a locally owned company. Our revenue comes from advertising, sponsorships, and our quarterly magazine. No advertiser, sponsor, or funder has any say in what we cover or how we cover it.

• Advertising supports but never influences our journalism. It does not purchase editorial coverage. Advertisers may receive favorable, neutral, or critical coverage; non-advertisers receive the same fair coverage.
• Sponsored content is labeled. Paid and sponsored content is always clearly identified as such — and never presented as editorial coverage.
• Accuracy and fairness: we verify through reliable sources, review original documents and records, seek comment from involved parties, present stories fairly and in context, distinguish reporting from analysis and opinion, and correct factual errors promptly and transparently. Our role is to inform — not to advocate predetermined conclusions.
• Public records and accountability: our reporting relies on agendas, minutes, budgets, ordinances, contracts, court records, audits, and Illinois FOIA documents. Primary sources are identified when practical. Accountability reporting aims to improve public understanding, not presume wrongdoing.
• Disclosure: when a reasonable reader would benefit from knowing about a relevant business or professional relationship — an ad client, a sponsorship, a media partnership — we include a disclosure in the article. A disclosure signals transparency, not influence.
• Conflicts of interest: our team members step back from coverage where a personal, family, or financial relationship could compromise — or appear to compromise — fair reporting. When in doubt, we disclose or recuse.
• Opinion is labeled. Opinion pieces, editorials, and commentary are clearly identified as such. News presents verified facts; commentary encourages civic discussion grounded in facts.
• Corrections: factual errors are investigated promptly and corrected, with significant corrections noted in the article. Readers may submit error reports with supporting information.

We aim to be fair without being timid, transparent without being performative, and independent without being adversarial.

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We get things wrong sometimes. When we do, we fix it — promptly, transparently, and in the open. Trust is earned through accuracy, and accuracy includes owning our mistakes.

• What we correct: factual errors — names, dates, figures, quotes, and other verifiable facts. A correction is not a rewrite of something you disagree with; reporting a documented fact is not an error.
• How corrections appear: substantive corrections are noted in the article itself, along with the date of the correction. Minor typographical errors may be fixed without a formal note.
• What we don't do: we don't unpublish a story because someone dislikes it, and we don't quietly rewrite history. Corrections are added to the record — the original error and the fix both stay visible.
• How to report an error: email info@geneseocurrent.com with a link to the article, what you believe is wrong, and any supporting information (documents, links, or firsthand knowledge). Every report is investigated, and verified errors are corrected promptly.

Community discussion is part of local journalism. Our pages exist to share information, encourage discussion, answer questions, and allow differing viewpoints. Agreement with The Current is not required — moderation is based on behavior, not viewpoint.

• Broadly allowed: support or opposition on issues; criticism of The Current, our reporting, or our methods; questions about sourcing and editorial decisions; criticism of public officials, organizations, and businesses; sarcasm and emotional reactions; civil debate. Comments are never removed merely for being negative, unpopular, critical, or believed incorrect.
• When we may respond: factual questions, added context, possible factual errors, or questions about our sourcing and process. We prioritize facts and clarity — not argument — and we're not obligated to answer every comment.
• When we won't engage: already-answered questions, circular arguments, provocation, personal attacks, or discussions consuming disproportionate staff time. Non-response is not acceptance of misinformation.
• Content that may be hidden or removed: threats or encouragement of violence, harassment or targeted abuse, doxxing, slurs or identity-based attacks, sexually explicit material, spam and scams, impersonation, false attribution to The Current, potentially defamatory claims about private individuals, and platform-rule violations.
• Blocking is a last resort — never for disagreement, criticism of our journalism, political differences, or sarcasm. It may be used for harassment, threats, repeated prohibited content after warnings, spam, ban-evading accounts, or sustained disruption. We prefer lesser actions first.
• Comments default to open. They may be limited to protect minors, victims of crime or abuse, or public safety during emergencies — never simply because a topic is controversial.

We moderate conduct, not disagreement.

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• Equal access. Candidates and campaigns have equal access to advertising options regardless of party affiliation, incumbent status, or political viewpoint.
• Standardized pricing. Identical pricing for all political advertisers.
• Ad content guidelines. Every political ad must clearly identify its sponsor (e.g., "Paid for by …" disclaimers), comply with election laws and truth-in-advertising standards, and must not be defamatory, inciting, or legally actionable. No hate speech or personal attacks. The Current reserves the right to refuse ads that conflict with community guidelines or raise legal liability concerns.
• Transparency. All political ads are clearly labeled as paid content that does not reflect the views or endorsements of The Geneseo Current or its staff.
• Equal editorial opportunities. Candidate Q&As, issue guides, and election overviews offer equal opportunity to all qualifying candidates and parties. Campaign content is never published as editorial without proper advertising disclosure.
• Timing. Political ads are accepted year-round, but advertisers should reserve space at least 30 days before their desired publication date — especially near elections.

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Local journalism is most valuable when it gives readers reliable information to reach their own conclusions. Disagreement is not a reason to avoid a subject — often it is a reason to cover it carefully. Our role is not to be for or against any issue, party, candidate, or position, but to present responsibly sourced facts, context, and significant perspectives.

• Start with verifiable facts — public records, documents, data, direct observation, on-the-record interviews.
• Distinguish fact from opinion, and attribute claims, allegations, and predictions.
• Provide context and limitations, and be transparent about uncertainty.
• Seek relevant perspectives from those directly involved.
• No false balance — clearly established facts are reported as facts.
• No loaded framing in headlines, photos, graphics, or social posts.
• Correct material errors clearly and promptly.
• Keep advertising separate from editorial coverage — buying ads doesn't buy favorable coverage, and not advertising doesn't bring unfavorable coverage.
• Apply the same sourcing standards consistently, regardless of a subject's popularity.

Neutrality does not mean silence: reporting a documented fact — a government expenditure, a violation found in an inspection — is not endorsement or condemnation. Presenting an argument is not agreement with it.

We report. We provide context. We ask questions. The conclusions belong to our readers.

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How we gather and present the news — the standards behind every story we publish.

• On the record, by default. We put names to information. Anonymous sources are a last resort — used only when the information is newsworthy, unavailable any other way, and the source faces a credible risk. We vet what anonymous sources tell us like anything else, and we describe them to readers as specifically as we can without identifying them.
• Attribution. Claims, allegations, and predictions are attributed. Readers should always be able to tell what we verified ourselves and what someone told us.
• Privacy. We weigh the public's right to know against the privacy of private individuals — especially minors and victims of crime. We don't publish personal addresses, phone numbers, or other identifying details unless there is a clear public interest.
• Original work. Our reporting is our own. When we rely on someone else's reporting, we credit it. Plagiarism has no place here.

The Current occasionally uses large language models (LLMs) to assist in creating graphics, illustrations, and other newsroom and business materials. AI tools help with efficiency, research, and organization — they do not replace human editorial judgment. We recognize that LLMs can make mistakes and generate inaccuracies, and every use is held to our accuracy standards.

• Illustration, not documentation. AI-generated graphics are visual illustrations, never documentary photography. We will not create an image of a real local event and present it as authentic news photography.
• Disclosure. When a generated image could reasonably be mistaken for an actual photograph or documentation of an event, it will be labeled as LLM-generated. Clearly illustrative graphics do not require individual disclosure.
• Minors. No LLM-generated or recreated images depicting minors. Coverage involving children and teens — especially schools, athletics, youth organizations, and community events — uses authentic photography or designs that do not depict minors.
• News photography. AI is never used to add, remove, or substantially alter people, objects, actions, or circumstances in a way that changes a photograph's factual meaning. Routine edits such as cropping, resizing, and exposure or color correction are not treated as AI-generated journalism.
• Accuracy. Graphics must not introduce unsupported factual claims. Factual information in graphics faces the same accuracy standards as our stories.

Our guiding principle: readers should never be misled about whether an image represents something that actually happened.

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