Vision and Values

Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA consists of three small publishing and media groups: Arizona, Delmarva and Florida.

Like the other two groups, INI Delmarva is made up of people who share a set of deeply felt values. We care deeply about journalistic service, high ethical standards, and each other. We work hard because what we do is so important. And we have a lot of fun celebrating our successes because we feel good about what we are doing.

The company is owned by a unique non-profit trust that is designed to preserve INI's independence and journalistic mission forever. There are no other stockholders and no outside investors. This company exists to serve, not to exploit or be exploited.

We serve our communities by reporting the news with purposeful neutrality, promoting community participation, and honoring the accomplishments of volunteers. On the opinion pages, we facilitate the community's discussion of local issues instead of pushing our own agenda. We have an insatiable appetite for local content; we intend to be the main provider of local news and advertising in every one of our communities.

INI Delmarva is a meritocracy. Its people run the company. They earn positions of leadership by working hard, producing results, and helping to build our culture of journalistic service, continuous improvement, and shared leadership. They rise though the ranks because of what they accomplish, not who they know. This is no place for inflated egos and stuffed shirts; our people take their jobs seriously, but not themselves. Nearly all of our top leaders have risen from the ranks. INI's Chairman is a self-described S.O.B. (which may or may not stand for "son of boss") who started as a newspaper carrier and has swept the floors, worked in the mailroom, as a printer's devil and in the pressroom, sold ads, written obituaries and headlines, covered school boards, town councils and state legislatures, and was once even shot at while covering a story. The Corporate Secretary started as a typist in the composing/graphics department.

Our roots run deep in our communities. Most of our leaders are "home-grown." We occasionally bring in proven talent from other companies, but only if they're viewed as an especially good fit with our values and culture and willing to sink roots in the community.

We expect a lot from our people. At every level of the organization, our employees are expected to be a self-manager who accepts responsibility for their own performance and productivity, share leadership with co-workers and includes them in decision-making, and help as we continually improve our company in every way.

INI is a close-knit extended family of dedicated hard-working people who support one another, share key values, and have a deep desire to serve their communities well and have fun celebrating successes. Anyone who shares our mission and values, will find INI Delmarva to be a great place to work.

For more information about Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA, please visit our website at iniusa.org.

 

Our Mission and Key Values

MISSION: We attempt to publish purposeful newspapers that encourage and support meaningful community involvement, and that provide citizens with the knowledge and participation they need to make rational decisions about public issues.

SERVICE: We operate each of our newspapers as a public trust, in the public interest. We believe that our dedication to conscientious journalism is the best way we can help each of our communities become a better place to live and work. We achieve success by helping our readers, advertisers and communities become more successful.

ETHICS: We are committed to upholding high ethical standards in all of our dealings. We attempt to treat every individual (inside the company and outside) with courtesy and respect.

PEOPLE: We intend to excel by attracting and encouraging people who share our values and are committed to achieving excellence (for themselves and for the organization).

STRENGTH: While our mission is our driving force, we recognize that we must earn sufficient profits to ensure the company's continuity, independence, and growth. Since no dividends are paid, the company is able to thrive on profit margins below industry standards. All after-tax surpluses are reinvested in Independent's mission of journalistic service, commitment to the ideals of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and support of the community's deliberation of public issues.

 

Our Vision

CONTRIBUTION: By fulfilling our mission and living our values, we will elevate the level of citizenship in our communities.

EXCELLENCE: We will excel because our people share our values and are committed to achieving excellence for themselves and for the organization.

VITALITY: We will maintain our basic values and purposes, while continuously changing everything else to meet changing needs.

STABILITY: We will manage conservatively to ensure the company's continuity and preserve its independence.

GROWTH: We will expand when our existing operations are sound and when the expansion makes sense for us and for the communities we serve.

IDEAL: We will earn respect for our service to our communities, our ethical standards, our relationships with people, the value we offer our customers, our innovations and purposefulness, and our business success. In so doing, we will provide a worthy model for the industry and a source of inspiration to all whose paths we cross.

 

Our Business Values

SERVICE: We strive to help our communities become better places in which to live and work through our dedication to conscientious journalism, and by providing a vigorous advertising marketplace.

ETHICS: We intend to be a company of which we can all be proud, known for its integrity, fairness, and respect for others. Our business relationships are built on honesty, service, quality products, and value. We seek all-win relationships. We believe we can be successful without victimizing anybody.

VALUE: We strive to provide our customers with valued products and services at competitive prices. We are constantly in search of ways to improve the value and service that we provide, and to increase our effectiveness and efficiency.

IMPROVEMENT: We set only one goal: continuous improvement. But we do lots of measuring of trends, so we also know how we are doing.

CONSULTATIVE SALES: We reject manipulative sales approaches in favor of a consultative approach.

RESOURCES: We make maximum use of our resources and capabilities to pursue our mission. We abhor waste. We continuously seek to improve quality and efficiency. We intend to continue to be environmentally responsible.

EQUIPMENT: We take pride in getting optimum performance from our equipment through careful use and good maintenance. We stand ready to upgrade or replace our equipment whenever such an investment can be cost-justified.

SUPPLIERS: We want our outside advisors and suppliers to be committed and valued partners in our success. We seek long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships. In return for our loyalty, we expect our suppliers to treat us as most favored customers.

INTERNAL CUSTOMERS: When our divisions do business with one another, they charge the same competitive prices that they would charge outside customers, and provide the same level of service. Our ability to attract outside customers for these services provides proof of our efficiency and effectiveness.

ADMINISTRATION: We try to design the company's business policies and practices so that they support our mission and values. We look for effective solutions and brilliantly simple systems. We take pride in meeting our legal and financial requirements in the least bureaucratic ways possible, and in providing an atmosphere in which Independent's values can flourish.

 

Our Product Values

PURPOSEFULNESS: We encourage and support meaningful community involvement, and provide citizens with the knowledge they need to make rational decisions about public issues. We emphasize local coverage. We try to provide understanding of key issues, not just reporting of the latest events. We write for the citizen, not for officials. We select our content for relevance and usefulness. We recognize individuals who are involved in the community.

RESPONSIBILITY: We report the news with honesty, accuracy, fairness, objectivity, fearlessness and compassion. Our opinion pages provide a vigorous forum for community discussion of public issues, within the bounds of fair play. We maintain a reputation for purposeful neutrality, and guard it zealously.

HUMILITY: We constantly strive for the truth, but never claim to possess it. We treat people with respect, courtesy and compassion. We correct our errors and give each correction the prominence it deserves. We provide a right to reply to those we write about. We disclose our own conflicts of interest of potential conflicts to our readers.

FORMAT: We use a standard format to make it easy for readers to find what they want. Content is carefully organized for usefulness and time efficiency. We make sensible and creative use of graphics, illustrations, indexes, charts, and color when available.

ADVERTISING: Advertising creates a marketplace in the newspaper's pages which not only serves readers and advertisers, but also helps ensure a vigorous local economy. Advertising is a critical part of our total package, and is organized for reader relevance, usefulness and convenience. The newspaper's advertising should help our readers make intelligent choices about the goods and services they wish to use.

PRINTING: We take pride in producing products that are printed crisply, dependably and efficiently.

DELIVERY: No matter how good the quality of the newspaper, the effort is wasted if it does not get delivered on time. We must make it as easy as possible for readers to subscribe to our newspaper, delivery must be consistent and timely, and the methods of payment and customer service must be as hassle-free as possible for our readers.

 

Our People Values

COMMITMENT: We strive to attract people who are enthused about Independent's mission and who share our values.

SELF-MANAGEMENT: We expect each individual to accept personal responsibility for his or her own success and for the company's success. We want all of our people to feel that this company is theirs, and that they can make a difference in how it operates and whether it succeeds.

LEARNING: We expect each individual to make a commitment to continuous learning, accepting responsibility for his or her own continuing growth. The company makes appropriate training material available for individual self- education.

COURTESY: We expect each person to treat every other individual with courtesy, and to uphold the highest ethical standards.

TEAMWORK: We expect each individual to be a team-player, team-builder and consensus-seeker. We all share responsibility for the company's success, for maintaining pleasant and safe working conditions, and for recognizing fellow staffers who are upholding the company's values and contributing to its success.

EQUITY: We insist that people be judged by the quality of their work and their contribution to the company's success, without regard to their race, color, gender or other extraneous factors.

STABILITY: We strive to provide stable employment except for performance-based termination, career advancements or transfers.

COMPENSATION: We strive for competitive compensation based on the job, the market, and the individual's performance (including exceptional compensation for exceptional accomplishments). We try to allow people to self-manage their benefits to the fullest possible extent, structuring premiums and benefits to encourage individual responsibility.

LEADERSHIP: We strive for leadership, not for supervision. People in leadership positions challenge and coach their associates. They are expected to help each of us become all we can be, and to help the company become all it can be.

SHARED LEADERSHIP: Our leaders make direction-changing decisions, but consult and seek consensus to the fullest practical extent. They try to share leadership with everyone who has shown he or she has something to contribute.