Our Vision & Mission - North County Informador

ELF Vision

When actor Edward James Olmos and Kirk Whisler co-founded in 1997 what is now the 501c3 nonprofit Empowering Latino Futures (ELF), they saw the organization as a facilitator to give Latinos more access to a multitude of resources to help improve their futures and to help mainstream America view the Latino community in more accurate, less stereotypical ways. Visit the ELF Webiste.

Empowering Latino Futures’ Mission: To remove barriers to educational and creative success for Latinos, Latinas, and other underserved communities.

North County Informador Mission: North San Diego County is home to 360,000 Latinos who are living in a news desert. The North County Informador is a bilingual digital weekly news outlet and monthly magazine targeting the region’s 11 chronically underserved communities. Informador focuses on four cornerstones—education, health, financial empowerment, and civic engagement. To help deliver on these topics, we also cover local success stories, community & government services, and cultural events. Fostering trust, we act as a facilitator between service providers and the communities we serve.

Ethics Policy & DEI Statement

North County Informador is committed to serving the public interest, fostering democracy, and providing a platform for diverse yet otherwise neglected voices.

The 2022 National Latino Media Study, the largest media-usage analysis of Latinos and Latino media outlets in history, in which we participated, found that 98% of North County Informador readers are concerned about fake news from other sources. For this reason, Informador is committed to gathering news and presenting it in a truthful manner. We pledge to gain an understanding of the unique communities and individuals we serve and seek to provide an informed, unbiased account of the issues and events.

We write in English and Spanish, with a level and style appropriate to our audiences. We insist on fact checking and source and editorial accuracy. We follow all industry-related laws and take responsibility for editorial decisions. We shall not use technology to alter media content or to mislead audiences. We pledge to be timely in the correction of any errors or omissions.

North County Informador commits to the goals of serving the public interest, fostering democracy, and recognizing diversity within our communities. We encourage the understanding of complex issues through civil discourse and diverse viewpoints, treating everyone with respect, compassion, honor, and integrity.

North County Informador provides no-cost information and services. We pledge to remain independent of political or business interests. The personal opinions of our employees shall have no place in our coverage. We work actively to avoid conflicts of interest.

North County Informador pledges to produce original journalism through rigorous reporting that follows the best practices of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.

These practices include:

Seek truth and report it
Minimize harm
Act independently
Be accountable and transparent

The 2022 National Latino Media Study, the largest media-usage analysis of Latinos and Latino media outlets in history, in which we participated, found that 98% of North County Informador readers are concerned about fake news from other sources. For this reason, Informador is committed to gathering news and presenting it in a truthful manner. We pledge to gain an understanding of the unique communities and individuals we serve and seek to provide an informed, unbiased account of the issues and events.

Editorial Independence

We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:

Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services, or opinions.

We accept gifts, grants, and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not based on donor support.

North County Informador provides no-cost information and services. We retain full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization.

We pledge to remain independent of political or business interests. The personal opinions of our employees shall have no place in our coverage. We work actively to avoid conflicts of interest.

Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services, or opinions.

We maintain editorial control of all coverage and reserve the right to review and edit all editorial content.

Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.

Corrections Policy

At North County Informador, we strive to provide current, accurate information to our audience. If errors or omissions should occur, we pledge to correct them as soon as possible on the digital versions and platforms—including website, social media, and eNewsletter—and/or to publish a bilingual correction or retraction in the following month’s print issue, on the editorial page.

DEI Statement

Empowering Latino Futures envisions a world where inclusion and equity principles grant everyone access to educational community-building and empowerment programs, as well as opportunities to pursue their professional dreams.

Empowering Latino Futures’ policies and practices welcome, include, value, and support members of underrepresented groups. We strive for greater understanding and more diverse, equitable, and inclusive outcomes as well as cultural competency among board, team, and audience members. We engage, support, and partner with underrepresented groups, with a special emphasis on Latinos, in our community. Our materials are bilingual—English and Spanish—, and in some cases, trilingual—Portuguese.

Empowering Latino Futures is involved in expanding access for marginalized groups, Latinos in particular, to publishing industry events through the International Latino Book Awards, and to educational and cultural opportunities through the Latino Book and Family Festival and other programs. The Awards also attract an international audience, mainly Spanish and Portuguese authors.

The Empowering Latino Futures board and team are diverse and include Latino and non-Latino members as well as a balance between women and men.

ELF has always been proud that our leadership is representative of the communities we are serving. Ten of our 11 board members are Latinos, and 73% were in the first generation in their family to go to college.

North County Informador is published in English and Spanish and is focused on making diversity, equity, and inclusion practices the anchor of our activities. We are aware of the unique perspective, experience, and ideas of every member of our team and every person with whom we are in contact. Our dual-language reporting is designed to uplift and connect the underserved Latino communities in North County San Diego.

Informador’s editorial board is made up of community members with different business and social capacities. Our entire editorial staff is bilingual and includes Latinos and non-Latinos.

We respect the views of different races, genders, religions, sexual orientations, ethnicities, nationalities, socioeconomic status, languages, disabilities, age, and political perspectives.