The Foundation was launched in the middle of 2020, during a period of unrest and uneasiness experienced as the result of a pandemic and major polarization across the county. This was a period of extreme division between the earnings of the rich and the poor, of great distrust in leadership and decision-making, of challenge to police policies and procedures, of the questioning of science, of exposure of racial inequality, of lack of clarity between fact and opinion, and of conflicts between individual rights and the well-being of the public.
This was the time for a focus on the role of the media, the educating of citizens on different journalistic methods of relaying the news, community needs for facts and related emotions, the impact of our different belief systems on our perceptions and on ways to more clearly inform our discussions and involvement in governance.
Our first project was the sponsoring of a journalism internship for a college student or recent graduate to learn reporting in a variety of contexts and through a vision of awareness of how different journalistic approaches reflect cultural norms. THAVF also sponsored a real-time virtual forum for the 2020 county commissioner candidates to give our community an opportunity to learn candidate perspectives and proposed policies while in the midst of a pandemic. (Image courtesy of Center for Freedom of the Media.)
We raised funds to expand our journalism internship program to include a high school student, and plan to have more internships going forward. We are planning to hold media conferences to explore the role of media, education efforts for a well-informed community and impact of polarization, including the discussion of themes that impact our community and generate differences in the ways we view community needs.
Concurrent with the civic outreach mission of Truth Has A Voice Foundation, its second major program is the publication of a free to the public, digital news medium operating as a public service under the name of Ark Valley Voice. Information about Ark Valley Voice is available here.
The Truth Has A Voice Foundation is a Non-profit Corporation organized under the laws of Colorado. It is registered in Colorado as a Charity.
The Mission of the Truth Has A Voice Foundation is to Support Quality, Objective, Fact-based Journalism in the Upper Arkansas Valley.
The Foundation seeks to nurture informative reporting and programming, to provide educational opportunities in journalism, and to work toward a better-informed community, civil discourse and government accountability.
Goals of the Truth Has A Voice Foundation include:
- providing a tax deductible* option for the community,
- supporting quality, independent community journalism,
- advocating for the development of first amendment and democracy-supportive educational community programming,
- mentoring career journalists, and
- providing journalism experience paths for students and graduates.
The Foundation operates under a set of Bylaws and is governed by a Board of Directors, which publishes its Minutes and Financial Reports.
Official Documents of the Truth Has A Voice Foundation:
*Note: On September 10, 2024 THAVF received a Letter of Determination from the IRS designating THAVF as a 501(c)(3) entity (Public Charity), using its own EIN 84-4677660. Tax deductible contributions to THAVF can now be made directly to THAVF as it is terminating its prior fiscal sponsorship by the Institute For Nonprofit News (INN).