Editorial Standards & Ethics
Who we are and what independence means here
Q Minnesota is Minnesota’s LGBTQ+ magazine and website, published by Gateway Media LLC.
Our editorial standards are set by our editorial team alone. We make all decisions about what we cover, how we cover it, who reports it, and when it runs without input from advertisers, sponsors, or business partners. They do not assign, review, edit, delay, or kill a story, and they get no advance look at coverage that concerns them, including coverage of organizations that also happen to be sponsors.
This applies with particular force to politics and public policy. Whether and how Q Minnesota covers elections, officeholders, and policy is an editorial decision. What advertising runs near that coverage is a separate, legitimate business decision (governed by its own standards, such as category exclusions and adjacency controls), but it never determines whether the coverage exists in the first place.
Civic and advocacy organizations we cover are subjects of our journalism, not partners in producing it, including organizations whose work we cover approvingly and organizations any of our staff or founders are personally involved with.
Accuracy and sourcing
We would rather be second and right than first and wrong. Before anything publishes:
- Contested or consequential claims get more than one source.
- We distinguish, both internally and for readers where relevant, between what’s on the record, on background, and anonymous. Anonymity is granted because a source would face real risk being named — not offered by default.
- A press release, a tip, or a social media post is a claim to verify, not a fact to publish. We state what we’ve confirmed independently and what we haven’t.
- A fact we can’t yet confirm doesn’t run.
Conflicts of interest
Q Minnesota is staffed in part by members of the community it covers. That’s a strength — and it’s exactly why disclosure is routine here, not exceptional.
- Staff and contributors disclose personal, financial, organizational, or advocacy ties relevant to a story before writing or editing it — board memberships, employers, close relationships, and community roles included.
- Sponsor and advertiser relationships are disclosed on any content connected to them (see §4).
Sponsored & branded content
Sponsored and branded content is clearly labeled as such, kept visually and structurally distinct from editorial content, and is never written, edited, or assigned by the news team.
Protecting sources & subjects
We do not confirm, imply, or publish anyone’s sexual orientation or gender identity without their clear, informed consent, regardless of how that information reaches us.
We take extra care with anyone not already publicly out, and with anyone who could face risk at work, at home, from family, from immigration authorities, or from violence if identified.
Any story that could identify, quote, or photograph a minor gets heightened scrutiny and requires sign-off from Andy Lien, Editor-in-Chief, before it runs.
We take reasonable steps to protect source-identifying detail, including incidental detail like location, employer, or photo metadata that could expose someone we’ve agreed to protect.
Sensitive subjects
Coverage of suicide, self-harm, HIV status, hate violence, and similar subjects follows recognized responsible-reporting guidance from suicide-prevention and public-health organizations, and includes relevant support resources for readers.
Corrections
Full detail on how we handle errors lives in our separate Corrections Policy. In brief: when we get something wrong, we say so, visibly and promptly.
Questions or concerns about our coverage
General contact: info@qminnesota.com
Standards & accountability
Editorial Standards & Ethics
How we report, correct, and disclose conflicts.
Diversity & Representation
Our standing commitment to covering the full breadth of Minnesota’s LGBTQ+ community.