Code of Conduct
LION Publishers is committed to creating and maintaining spaces that are welcoming, respectful, and meaningful. We also require that member organizations meet the ethics and standards of our membership criteria upon joining and maintain those standards to remain active members.
All LION members, staff, board members and contractors agree to follow this Code of Conduct in online spaces, meetings hosted by LION Publishers, at in-person LION events, and during any other LION-related activities.
The following guidelines is not an exhaustive list of things that you can and can’t do. Rather, we encourage you to take this code in the spirit in which it’s intended — an outline of ways to support a thriving LION Publishers community.
Privacy
Maintain the off-the-record nature of any LION Publishers forum that is so designated, so we can continue to share information and experiences in an environment of mutual trust.
Reciprocity
The LION community is full of smart, generous people who go the extra mile to help answer questions and share expertise. We hope you’ll tap into that collective knowledge and contribute.
Respect
We aim to encourage lively conversations, and even disagreements, but we expect those conversations to always remain respectful and civil. LION will not tolerate personal attacks, offensive language, or harassment of any kind or directed at anyone and we reserve the right to warn and/or remove anyone who doesn’t meet these standards. This includes personal attacks or discrimination related to appearance, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or ability.
Solicitation
If you’d like to promote jobs, fellowships, internships, or grant opportunities, that’s awesome. LION community spaces (ex: NEC Slack) are intended to support learning from each other, not a marketplace for selling products, services, or story pitches.
Membership criteria
Members are approved based on a review of their news product(s) at the time they apply for membership. If a member has changed their content and no longer meets our membership criteria and/or the Code of Conduct, we will review their news product and consider removal from membership.
If any participant in a LION-hosted activity, forum, program, or other space engages in unacceptable behavior that is harmful to others, the organization’s leadership may take any lawful action we deem appropriate, at our discretion, including but not limited to warning the offender or asking the offender to leave the event or activity without a refund, or removing them from membership in LION.
These community guidelines are inspired by and adapted from guidelines created by the Journalists of Color, OpenNews, and Gather communities, which we love and admire.