Purpose
The Salon of Authentic Journalism is a gathering of journalists and organizers from different geographies, cultures and lived experiences who are actively working to bring about community-driven change, and to analyze, reflect, strategize, report on and amplify the stories of that change – within those communities and externally.
To do this work together, it is vital that we honor our differences while cultivating our common ground. We do not tolerate any forms of harassment, discrimination, violence, or threats of violence at our events or within our community, and we believe that every individual has a role to play in maintaining a safe and productive space.
We know that no community is perfect, and so in addition to making the expectations clear for both participants and organizers of the Salon for Authentic Journalism, we have also clearly outlined a process to report, investigate and act upon behaviors that violate those expectations.
Everyone who is invited to participate in a Salon is expected to uphold our standards.
We are Upstanders, not bystanders.
An upstander is defined as ‘a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being harassed, attacked or bullied’. Every member of our community has an obligation to report behaviors that violate this policy or put any member of our community at risk.
The revolution will be supervised
Fun is a vital part of how we build together. We know from experience that having fun together is how we build the trust and foster the creativity that builds movements that win. As organizers, we understand our responsibility to ensure that our fun is inclusive, and that no member of our community engages in irresponsible or unsafe behavior that puts others at risk. All of our social events are designed with that commitment in mind, and there will always be at least one member of our team assigned to ensure (1) Our standards are followed, (2) No one’s “fun” is at the expense of others, and (3) There is a clear point of escalation if anyone has experienced or witnessed something that does not appear to meet our standards.
While alcohol is served at our events, the overconsumption of alcohol (or any other substance) does not change the expectations of this policy.
We believe in safety – not comfort
The diversity of this group means that we – both organizers and participants – will often be uncomfortable. We expect that others will challenge our assumptions and ideas about our work and about the world. We seek to understand and honor each other’s differences, and we expect to regularly engage in debates about our beliefs that are based on mutual respect. We believe that discomfort, paired with curiosity, is a necessary part of shared progress. We are all expected, as part of this work, to embrace this discomfort.
Utopias are bullshit
No individual and no community is perfect. Because we know this, we can plan for it. When something goes wrong – when we see or experience a perceived injustice or something that goes against the stated goals of our community – we need to speak up. And when any individual brings a concern to the organizing committee, we will respond, investigate and take the necessary restorative actions.
When a complaint is made or a concern is raised, it is the organizing committee’s responsibility to first investigate to determine if or what injustice has occurred. We seek to have an investigation process that diligently seeks truth wherever that may lead. In every instance, we make a commitment to fiercely support those who have seen injustice along with an assumption of best intent (until conclusively determined otherwise) to those accused of any wrongdoing.
During an investigation, our organizing committee commits to remaining objective, being diligent and thorough in seeking truth, and implementing credible and just process to anyone involved. As with all major decisions for SAJ events, we will review information and align on and communicate any actions as a committee.
Every participant and organizer commits to optimistically assist us in seeking truth, to not engage in any form of retaliation, or any behavior that might discourage someone from reporting concerns or participating in investigations in the future.
We will continue to be a work in progress. Even our own best efforts may not always be perfect, but we believe we should constantly be learning and improving over time, especially in improving our ability to seek and find truth in an unbiased way. We will continue to seek feedback from our participants to ensure our efforts are upholding the standards we have set.