The Black Improper Newsroom

Kenyan James, Editor-in-Chief, holds final responsibility for editorial standards, publication decisions, corrections, retractions, and complaints.

Contributors and collaborators are identified by byline when they materially report, write, photograph, or produce published work. A contributor's draft is not published until it completes the applicable review process.

The Black Improper covers Black life, Black queer and trans communities, arts and culture, ballroom, business, civic affairs, community resources, events, and issues affecting Boston and New England, with national and world coverage when it materially affects TBI readers.

The Black Improper recognizes freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to petition as essential protections for independent community media, public accountability, criticism, culture writing, opinion, and reader participation.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This reference does not lower TBI's editorial standards. The newsroom still applies verification, attribution, corrections, privacy, safety, anti-harassment, and right-of-response rules before publication.

• Accuracy takes priority over speed, tone, promotion, or search performance.
• News, analysis, opinion, press-release material, advertising, and sponsored work must not be presented as the same thing.
• Material claims must be attributed to identifiable evidence, direct reporting, public records, or credible sources.
• Headlines, summaries, images, captions, and social posts must accurately represent the underlying story.
• TBI does not knowingly publish fabricated quotations, sources, events, images, statistics, or firsthand claims.
• Coverage should avoid stereotypes, unnecessary exposure, and language that treats marginalized communities as spectacle.
• Subjects of serious criticism should receive a reasonable opportunity to respond when time and circumstances permit.

1. 1. IntakeA lead, submission, press release, event, interview, public record, or original idea enters the private review system.
2. 2. Source reviewThe source URL, identity, date, location, supporting records, image rights, and central claims are checked.
3. 3. DraftingThe Editor, publishers, collaborators or approved collaborator tools prepare a draft. Draft status is not public approval.
4. 4. Fact checkNames, dates, quotations, statistics, links, locations, and material context are compared with available evidence.
5. 5. Editorial approvalAn authorized editor reviews accuracy, framing, attribution, conflicts, safety, and publication readiness.
6. 6. PublicationThe article receives a stable URL, headline, byline where applicable, publication date, source information, and appropriate imagery.
7. 7. Post-publication reviewCredible corrections, updates, legal concerns, source disputes, and reader feedback are reviewed after publication.
8. 8. ArchivePublished work remains accessible whenever possible. Archiving does not erase the public record or silently rewrite publication history.

• Primary documents, direct interviews, official records, and firsthand observation are preferred when available.
• Secondary reporting must be credited and linked. TBI does not present another outlet’s reporting as original TBI reporting.
• Press releases and promotional submissions are starting materials, not automatic proof of every claim they contain.
• Anonymous sources are used only when the information has clear public value, the source faces a credible reason for protection, and an editor knows the source’s identity.
• A single anonymous allegation is not sufficient for a serious accusation without corroboration or documentary support.
• Images must be original, licensed, supplied with permission, embedded under platform terms, or used within a defensible reporting context with attribution.

When information cannot be independently confirmed, the story must clearly attribute the claim, describe the limitation, postpone publication, or omit the claim.

blackpage is entertainment-forward community chatter, not a license to harm people. TBI may publish light social tips, scene reports, public-facing cultural commentary, and humorous gossip after review, but blackpage does not bypass newsroom judgment.

• TBI will not support or publish illegal rumors, incriminating gossip, revenge submissions, doxxing, threats, stalking, nonconsensual sexual material, private medical information, or claims that appear designed to expose someone to legal danger.
• Serious allegations involving violence, abuse, crime, workplace misconduct, fraud, exploitation, or public safety must be handled through ordinary editorial review, verification, and right-of-response standards rather than casual blackpage treatment.
• Anonymous tips may be reviewed, but anonymity does not make a submission publishable. Editors may decline anything that cannot be responsibly supported or contextualized.
• Images must be submitted with permission, be public-facing, or be otherwise defensible for publication. Humiliating, invasive, or private images should be rejected.
• blackpage items should avoid outing, deadnaming, mocking protected traits, targeting private individuals without public relevance, or escalating interpersonal conflict for clicks.
• Satire, shade, and humor must not create a false factual impression about a person, venue, organizer, business, or community member.

Submitting to blackpage does not guarantee publication. Publishing on blackpage does not mean TBI endorses every social interpretation around a tip; it means an editor decided the item was suitable for that desk at that time.

Correction requests should identify the article URL, disputed statement, proposed correction, and supporting evidence. Requests are reviewed on evidence, not volume or pressure.

The Black Improper may use artificial intelligence to assist with research leads, transcription, source discovery, document organization, formatting, copyediting, summaries, and image discovery.

• AI output is not treated as a verified source or evidence.
• A human editor remains responsible for every published headline, factual claim, quotation, image choice, attribution, and correction.
• AI may not invent or reconstruct quotations, interviews, eyewitness accounts, sources, statistics, events, credentials, or reporting that did not occur.
• Sensitive reporting involving crime, death, children, health, identity, discrimination, elections, or serious allegations requires heightened human verification.
• AI-generated or materially altered images must not be presented as documentary photography. Illustrative synthetic media must be clearly identified.
• Confidential source information, private records, passwords, unpublished personal data, and protected newsroom material must not be entered into unapproved AI systems.

AI tools may support the work; they do not receive a byline, exercise editorial judgment, or replace the editor accountable for publication.

• Use only the account and access level assigned to you. Do not share passwords, access codes, unpublished drafts, contact lists, source records, or private administrative data.
• Work must remain in draft, pending, or collaborator-submission status until an authorized editor approves publication.
• Preserve source links, interview notes, supporting records, image permissions, and relevant communications long enough to answer editorial questions.
• Do not publish through a personal account, bypass review controls, delete another contributor’s work, or alter the public record without authorization.
• Disclose personal, financial, political, family, organizational, or professional relationships that could reasonably affect coverage.
• Do not accept payment, gifts, services, access, travel, or favors in exchange for favorable editorial treatment.
• Corrections, legal threats, source disputes, safety concerns, impersonation, data exposure, and credible complaints must be escalated to the Editor-in-Chief.
• Access may be changed or revoked immediately when a role changes, a device is lost, work ends, or newsroom security requires it.

Collaborators may research, draft, edit, and submit within their assigned permissions. Final publication authority remains with the Editor-in-Chief unless explicitly delegated.

Editorial decisions are not for sale. Advertisers, sponsors, event partners, subjects, funders, and personal relationships do not receive guaranteed favorable coverage or approval over independent reporting.

• Potential conflicts must be disclosed to the assigning or reviewing editor before work begins.
• A contributor should not report on a matter in which they have a direct undisclosed financial or controlling interest.
• Personal advocacy does not excuse inaccurate reporting or concealed conflicts.
• Harassment, retaliation, discrimination, plagiarism, fabrication, impersonation, and deliberate misrepresentation are incompatible with newsroom work.
• Embargoes, off-the-record agreements, and background terms must be understood and agreed upon before information is provided whenever possible.

Advertising, sponsored placements, paid partnerships, affiliate relationships, and promotional material must be distinguishable from independent editorial coverage. Payment does not guarantee news coverage, favorable language, publication, or continued placement.

Press releases, event submissions, and media advisories are reviewed for relevance and accuracy. TBI may edit, decline, summarize, independently report, or take no action on a submission.

Submission information is available on the press-release page and commercial inquiries belong on the advertising page.

Send corrections, evidence, editorial complaints, source concerns, takedown requests, or questions about these standards to:

Include the relevant URL, the specific concern, and supporting documentation. TBI will review credible requests as promptly as available staffing permits. Submission does not guarantee correction, removal, retraction, publication, or a particular outcome.