MyRGV.com’s mission
MyRGV.com, owned and operated by AIM Media Texas and powered by the journalism of The Monitor, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald, is committed to creating a better-informed Rio Grande Valley by implementing community journalism values that bolster our brand and help tell the stories which matter most to our readers.
Our brand of journalism consists of empowering the Valley community by monitoring the actions of those in power, whose decisions affect the entire region, as well as exposing public corruption and holding officials at the highest levels of local, state and federal governments accountable.
We are equally dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the vulnerable, and to identifying and highlighting the people of the Valley who are doing extraordinary things in their communities, one story at a time.
These efforts are guided by a collaborative team environment between editors and reporters in the newsroom, to objectively cover stories we have identified as content that readers both want and need to consume, and to do so across multiple platforms — via our digital products and in print.
Journalism ethics: Our policy and commitment
MyRGV.com and AIM Media Texas newspapers The Monitor, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald are committed to creating a better-informed Rio Grande Valley by promoting community journalism values and telling the stories that matter most to South Texans.
Our team’s goal is to empower the Valley by monitoring the actions of those with power, exposing public corruption and holding accountable officials in local, state and federal government.
We are equally dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the vulnerable, to recording the progress and culture of our cities and its citizens, and to identifying and highlighting the people of the Valley who are doing extraordinary things.
Journalists from MyRGV.com realize that in order to accomplish this they, too, must hold themselves accountable, and follow a set of journalism ethics.
A team of editors, reporters and photojournalists collaborate across four counties and their cities to objectively cover the news, across digital and print platforms. They seek the facts in pursuit of contextual truth without any agenda or bias, a basic tenet of journalism rooted in integrity for the profession, to more effectively keep the populace informed and to promote trust between the press and the public.
We seek truth independent from any influence outside of the newsroom, and with compassion and self-accountability.
It’s equally important to remember that journalists are people too and are not detached from the issues they cover. In fact, their humanity is what drives them to be objective in their reporting. That sense of duty guides the newsroom, and their heart holds them accountable.
Yes, we make the occasional error, because there can only ever be an expectation of fairness and fact-based reporting, but not of perfection. When we make a mistake, we act quickly to publish a correction once alerted to the error.
In such cases, corrections are only reserved for factual inaccuracies or errors, and are not made to satisfy any cosmetic adjustments. We stress the finality of publication and do not entertain any such changes in order to maintain the history of the story’s original publishing.
Anonymity may be granted for sources who’ve demonstrated a clear threat faced, whether physical or professional in nature, should they be identified in news stories where they act in a whistleblowing capacity.
These sources may be identified using a pseudonym, by first name only or in a generalized reference, which can range from their title to age and gender, and with an explanation for the reader about why their identity is concealed.
The vulnerable — such as immigrants, children, victims of sexual abuse or living victims of domestic violence — may also be granted anonymity.