VNN General Policies and Information
Updated 7/20/2024
VNN’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The world is a better place when we work together. At Verified News Network, we are celebrating diversity, striving for equity, and mastering inclusion.
We work to achieve this in our company ownership, news reporting, professional partnerships, community relationship building, and beyond. It is our goal for diversity, equity, and inclusion to be found within every aspect of everything we do at VNN, and for those areas to continue to grow.
VNN’s Non-Discrimination Policy
VNN strictly prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, disability, age (40 or older), or genetic information (including family medical history). We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for medical or religious reasons as required by law and will not tolerate any form of discrimination.
Employees are encouraged to report any instances of discrimination to VNN Leadership without fear of retaliation, as confidentiality will be protected to the greatest extent possible.
All complaints will be promptly, thoroughly, and impartially investigated, and effective corrective and preventative actions will be taken as necessary. Collaborators who report discrimination, participate in an investigation, or oppose discrimination will be safeguarded from any form of punishment.
Violations of this policy will result in disciplinary action, up to and including removal from all VNN departments and activities.
VNN Ethics Policy
VNN requires fair and accurate reporting.
VNN collaborators are responsible for the accuracy of their work. They must verify information before it is released and take care not to misrepresent or oversimplify their stories.
VNN collaborators should offer multiple viewpoints accordingly to each story and avoid stereotyping.
VNN collaborators should attribute information accordingly and never plagiarize the work of others.
VNN collaborators should make updates and corrections to stories when needed. If incorrect information was posted, VNN collaborators must clearly address how the information was corrected.
VNN collaborators should use anonymous sources with discretion.
VNN requires respect and dignity for others.
VNN collaborators should balance the public’s need for information against the harm it could cause if released.
VNN collaborators should show compassion for the subjects of their stories as well as their audience.
VNN collaborators should not identify juveniles in a story unless that juvenile has already been identified by an official or permission has been granted by the juvenile’s legal guardian. Living juvenile victims of sex crimes should never be identified. This includes identification by name or personal information that would lead to the juvenile being identified.
VNN collaborators should not cover suicides or suicide attempts unless the person is a well-known figure or the circumstances are particularly unusual or publicly disruptive.
VNN collaborators should remember that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
VNN condemns conflicts of interest.
VNN collaborators should avoid conflicts of interest, including perceived conflicts of interest, and refuse offerings that are attempting to sway integrity or impartiality of a story.
VNN Moderation Policy
At VNN, it is our goal to create an environment for positive dialogue. To achieve this goal, VNN requires collaborators to avoid the following offenses when posting stories and comments:
Bullying
Harassment
Hate speech
Misinformation
Not factual
Nudity
Racism
Suicide or self-injury
Spam
Terrorism
Threats
Vulgarity
As a social news media network, we expect all of our collaborators to understand there is a difference between reporting on an offense and committing one.
For example, reporting on a bullying incident at a local school is permitted content on the VNN app. Bullying a student in the comments section is not.
VNN Collaborator Qualifications*
VNN app collaborators are classified into five categories: Official, Expert, Journalist, Citizen and Affiliate.
Official
VNN Officials must be vetted by a VNN Admin.
VNN Officials must abide by VNN’s Terms and Conditions.
VNN Officials must have a current photo in their bio.
Expert
VNN Experts must be vetted by a VNN Admin.
VNN Experts must have a minimum 10 years’ education and/or experience in their field.
VNN Experts must abide by VNN’s Terms and Conditions.
VNN Experts must have a current photo in their bio.
Journalist
VNN Journalists must be vetted by a VNN Admin.
VNN Journalists must abide by VNN’s Terms and Conditions.
VNN Journalists must have a current photo in their bio.
Citizen
VNN Citizens must abide by VNN’s Terms and Conditions.
Affiliate
VNN Affiliates must be vetted by a VNN Admin.
VNN Affiliates must abide by VNN’s Terms and Conditions.
VNN Affiliates must have a current photo in their bio.
*subject to change at the discretion of VNN
VNN Corrections Policy
VNN aims to be as accurate in its reporting as possible, but mistakes happen.
VNN collaborators will promptly correct errors in stories. Simple grammatical errors do not require additional information. Significant content errors require either a, “Update”, “Correction” or “Clarification” note at the bottom of the corrected stories, distinguishing what was wrong and what is correct.
If you see an error that needs to be corrected, please email [email protected] so it can be addressed.
VNN Funding Information
VNN is funded through advertising, news sponsorship, media services, grants, and donations.
For more information on all VNN sponsored news opportunities, click here.
VNN media services products are either standalone marketing products or standalone marketing campaigns created for entrepreneurs and small business owners, to be marketed through their own channels.
Only VNN Journalists and Affiliates are permitted to earn revenue through VNN and the new VNN app.
Click here to view the VNN Revenue Policy.
VNN Journalists have the option of paying network dues on a monthly or annual basis as part of VNN’s Journalist Vesting program. Network dues directly support the new VNN app.
VNN Sponsored News Policy
There are three main vehicles for VNN Sponsored News: news sponsored by a business or organization, community sponsored news and government sponsored news.
VNN Journalists and VNN Affiliates are currently the only user categories permitted to offer sponsored content to businesses, organizations and government entities.
VNN Journalists maintain editorial control over all sponsored content.
Every sponsored news story or update is to be clearly designated as a sponsored news story or update.
Every sponsored news story published is to be offset by the publishing of a non-sponsored news story.
VNN Sponsors should never receive preferential treatment.
To rule out subjectivity (actual and perceived), a business, organization, or individual cannot sponsor a story about themselves if the subject matter is controversial.
That is not to say we will not cover controversial subject matter. Please email [email protected] with any news tips for general coverage.
VNN Ownership Information
VNN is a Limited Liability Company (LLC) with three current members:
Kelly Tidwell 51% owner
Brittany Harlow 42% owner
BetaBlox Series, LLC 5% owner
Rahkiya Brown, 1% owner
Rachael Schuit, 1% owner
VNN will likely grow into more member ownership in the future, due to the VNN Journalist vesting program.