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The Murray Sentinel operates in a rural town of 17,522 in a county of 37,685, in western Kentucky’s Jackson Purchase region, eight miles from the Tennessee line. In 1987, Rand McNally dubbed Calloway County the nation’s “Retirement Capital.” In 2012, McNally returned to Murray with USA Today to declare it the “Friendliest Small Town in America.”
As the community’s only independent news outlet, The Sentinel covers stories other outlets either won’t cover or will only cover superficially because, as a 501(c)(3), we are beholden to readers, not advertisers.
The Sentinel was founded on the belief that the Murray/Calloway County community deserves a local news source that will not be compromised by the interests of those with money or prestige, that does not allow personal or political bias to stand in the way of reporting on events in our community, that is not afraid to dig deep and ask tough questions – no matter the source or subject matter – that prioritizes accurate original reporting and is willing to grow and adapt to the community’s needs. That is the void we strive to fill.
And we can’t do what we do without our community! Your contributions not only help us cover administrative costs but also directly support our staff, allowing us to bring you more content. Please consider making your gift today.
Donor Transparency Policy
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse any donors, sponsors or grantors or their products, services or opinions.
We avoid accepting donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. Exceptions are unusual and carefully considered.
We understand and deeply appreciate the many reasons donors may generally prefer to keep their gifts anonymous. We understand and respect donors’ wishes for privacy; however, when it comes to journalism and trust in independent, nonprofit news organizations, like the Sentinel, we encourage donors to consider the greater good that comes from people knowing who stands behind the news we report.
We publicly disclose all sources of revenue, including charitable donations, contributing $5,000 or more per year. We are committed to restricting anonymous donations to less than 15% of our revenue.
The goals of these guidelines are to ensure that our journalism remains editorially independent and that the public can trust the news we produce, knowing the Sentinel is not dependent on or shaped by high levels of anonymous funding.
Editorial Independence Policy
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization and subscribe to the standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any other revenue source. We do not give supporters the right to assign, review or edit content. We will not accept funding from any source whom our Board of Directors deems to present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our editorial independence.
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. News coverage decisions are wholly independent of sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors, sponsors, or grantors or their products, services or opinions.
Our organization may consider donations to support coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
