Political ads, endorsements and reporting in The Homepage | The Homepage

Managing Editor Juliet Martinez with her dog, Lucky, in January 2025. Photo courtesy of Juliet Martinez

By Juliet Martinez, managing editor

Last month’s Greater Hazelwood community meeting saw a lively discussion about political endorsements, advertisements and reporting. We have a lot of political coverage for you in this issue to inform your vote on May 20. So, I thought you might also appreciate some information about how we approach these matters.

First off, as I’ve mentioned before, I am a registered independent. I have never voted in a mayoral primary, and that will not change this year since I am now living abroad. I also do not donate to political action committees or campaigns.

That is one way I express my dedication to impartiality as a journalist. There are excellent journalists who belong to political parties and do vote in primaries. But we share a commitment to giving our readers as much information as possible so they can form beliefs and opinions based on verifiable facts.

The Homepage’s job is to inform, not push readers toward a certain candidate or party. Neither our publisher, Hazelwood Initiative Inc., nor The Homepage endorses political candidates. As part of Hazelwood Initiative Inc.’s nonprofit status, it is required by law to stay out of politics.

At the April community meeting, I found out some readers thought the two-page ad for the Gainey campaign was an endorsement. They had strong feelings about this, but I hope I cleared up the confusion. That spread is a paid advertisement.

That ad is labeled “Paid political advertisement” because our advertising terms and conditions require it. I want it to be clear that the campaign message readers are seeing comes from the advertiser, not The Homepage.

You may wonder why we don’t also have an ad for Corey O’Connor or either of the Republican candidates. Because they did not ask for one. It’s that simple. When you see an advertisement in The Homepage, it is there because that advertiser wants to reach people in our circulation area.

Advertising is how politicians can do that, if they choose to. But their advertising dollars do not buy more than their ad space.

Running an advertisement for a campaign or business does not give the advertiser any sway over editorial decisions.

Traditionally, the business and editorial sides of a newspaper are kept separate for this very reason. The building that housed the Chicago Tribune during the 20th century was even designed with separate entrances and elevators for the editorial department. The goal of journalism is to report the news “without fear or favor,” as publisher Alfred Ochs said when he took over the New York Times in 1896.

The Homepage does not have the luxury of a separate business department, much less a separate entrance, but my goal and that of my volunteer reporters remains the same: To give you the information you need, especially when you go to the polls. That means we try to give you the least biased information we can. We try to interview all the candidates. If they decline to be interviewed or don’t respond to attempts to interview them, we report that.

Speaking of working to keep you informed, please check out Page 9 for our first submission from local nonprofit InformUP. InformUP works to help you stay up to date about city council and convey your informed beliefs to elected officials. Please let me know what you think about our political coverage and anything else by emailing me at jmartinez@hazelwoodinitiative.org.