GroundTruth’s mission is to serve under-covered communities by supporting the next generation of journalists to do on-the-ground reporting and to advance sustainability, innovation and equity in journalism worldwide.

 

Vision

Our vision is a world in which all people have trustworthy, local, on-the-ground journalism to build more informed, just and thriving communities.

GroundTruth is building an engaged community around impactful journalism and powerful storytelling by a new generation, while supporting their careers as fellows, corps members and alumni.

Core Values

Integrity

Rebuilding trust in journalism is essential to our mission. We are committed to truth-telling, equity, and justice in the communities we serve. And that starts within our organization, where every day we strive to do the right thing every step of the way.

Accountability

As champions of journalism, it is our duty to hold people in positions of authority accountable to the public. Fulfilling that duty starts with us holding ourselves to the highest standard by honoring our commitments to our partners, to one another, and to the communities we serve. We take responsibility for all of our work. When we make a mistake, we own it.

Respect

To succeed in serving communities globally, we must respect, listen, learn, and understand our different perspectives. We cultivate a people-centric culture that appreciates the commitments we have made to each other, our families, and our communities. We treat all people with dignity and value our collective talent.

Excellence

In our quest to reimagine a new media ecosystem, we practice high standards of excellence for partnerships, for training, and for revelatory journalism that makes a difference through holding truth to power.

Collaboration

We foster an inclusive culture and work together to solve problems, using the ingenuity and expertise from throughout our organization to achieve our mission. We’re stronger together.

Service

We will forge partnerships that help put more corps members on the ground in local communities around the globe, telling stories that for decades have gone untold. Our public service work is intended to affect change.

Innovation

We will move creatively with agility to ensure that GroundTruth becomes the North Star of philanthropic organizations supporting local journalism worldwide. Iteration is part of our DNA, as we rebuild local news.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

The GroundTruth Project recognizes that our mission to serve under-covered communities by supporting the next generation of journalists can only be achieved by actively cultivating diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in our organization, in the field of journalism and in our wider world.

As a global organization, we celebrate human diversity and have the utmost respect and appreciation for the differences among us, whether that is represented through race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual identity, language, military service, socio-economic status, disability, age or place of origin. We believe that a variety of perspectives and backgrounds makes for a healthier, more creative culture that supports better work.

We oppose racism and discrimination and we expect the same of our newsroom and community partners and our funders — building relationships that hold respect for human dignity above all else. We recognize the importance of supporting journalists who reflect their communities and who have been historically underrepresented in the industry, and we are committed to show that support and live up to our core values.

We subscribe to the adage that talk is cheap, so we’re backing our beliefs with action. The GroundTruth Project launched a Diversity Task Force in Spring 2020, and formed staff-wide, volunteer DEI working groups to draft recommendations around three themes: Talent, Culture and Partnerships. The implementation of the recommendations is underway as part of an ongoing commitment to DEI as a strategic priority.

Last updated: Feb. 27, 2023