Editorial Correction Policy
Capital Region Community Media Transparency Policy
The Bridge is committed to transparency in every aspect of our funding. We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects. Our news staff operates independently of that support and retains full control of all editorial decisions. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their positions. We do not allow anyone to assign, review, or edit content prior to publication. As a nonprofit, The Bridge will not accept donations from political parties, elected officials or candidates actively seeking public office. We make public all donors who give $1,000 or more per year and accept anonymous donations only when sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our editorial staff and does not present a conflict of interest.Political Endorsement Policy
The Bridge does not endorse political candidates. Election-related letters to the editor should include pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers and not simply show support for a candidate. Letters should be exclusive to The Bridge. We do not publish open letters or third-party letters. The Bridge reserves the right to reject any letter at any time and especially to reject letters that contain questionable content such as unfounded allegations, statements of fact that are suspect, or assaults on a candidate’s character or moral standards. Any editing changes necessary to render a letter suitable for publication will be reviewed with the writer prior to publication whenever possible. All submissions must be signed and include the phone number, email address, and mailing address of the writer. Phone numbers are for questions and verification purposes only and will not be published. All published letters will include the writer’s name and town. Maximum recommended length of letters is 200 words. The Bridge reserves the right to move any and/or all of the letters to the editor to our webpage given print space restrictions. When letters to the editor are located on the website instead of in the paper, there will be an information box in the physical paper indicating that more letters can be found online. The Bridge does not charge for letters to the editor. Paid endorsement notices can be purchased via our advertising representative Rick McMahon at adsales@montpelierbridge.com _________________________________________________________ Funding Transparency In Fiscal Year 2022 the following represents the Bridges income percentage wise Direct community donations .29%Subscriptions .81%
Friends of the Bridge Donations* 15%
Advertising 85% *Friends of the Bridge is a 501 (c) (3) founded originally to do tax deductible fundraising for the Bridge. The Bridge was granted its own 501 (c) (3) status in April 2023 and the two organizations are expected to merge by the end of the year, 2023. Friends of the Bridge have no editorial say in the content of the Bridge newspaper. In contributions to Friends of the Bridge in 2022, no gift exceeded $4,000 and anonymous donors represented only 2% of donations. Anonymous gifts are very rare.