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The Webb City Sentinel website is a continuation of the 141-year-old newspaper of the same name, with its accompanying shopper, the Wise Buyer, which was published since 1937. The presses last ran for the Sentinel and Wise Buyer on Dec. 30, 2020.
Like the newspaper, the website is local news, primarily about Webb City, Missouri, and other communities within the Webb City R-7 School District. Bob Foos was the last publisher of the print version and took the “paper” online without a lapse, beginning with the Jan. 6, 2021, issue.
The Sentinel is updated each Wednesday. Those who sign up receive an email alert as soon as each week’s issue is available.
Unlike the print version, you can read the Sentinel website for free.
In the spring of 2021, Zinc City Sentinel Inc. was certified as a Missouri nonprofit corporation. It does business as the Webb City Sentinel.
On Nov. 17, 2021, the IRS certified the Sentinel as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Therefore, donations to the Sentinel are in many cases tax deductible.
Donations may be made by sending a check to Webb City Sentinel, 701 Ellis St., Webb City, MO, or by filling out a secure form here.
For more information, send an email to news@webbcity.net.
The Zinc City Sentinel’s Board of Directors are all local community members:
Bob Foos
Ann Foos
Vicki Groff
Juliann McFall
Marti Pittman
Kathy Sidenstricker
Brennan Stebbins
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization.
Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates as a public trust, we do not pay certain taxes. We may receive funds from standard government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses.
Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
We make public all revenue sources and donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
The Sentinel’s status with the Missouri Secretary of State can be viewed here.
To view the Sentinel’s latest IRS 990-N filing, click here and search by Organization Name – Zinc City Sentinel.
The following Financial Conflict of Interest Policy (“Conflict of Interest Policy”) is an effort (i) to ensure that the deliberations and decisions of the Zinc City Sentinel dba Webb City Sentinel (“Sentinel”) are made solely in the interest of promoting the quality of journalism in the state of Missouri, and (ii) to protect the interests of Sentinel when it considers any transaction, contract, or arrangement that might benefit or be perceived to benefit the private interest of a person affiliated with Sentinel (each, a “Sentinel Representative”). As used in this Conflict of Interest Policy, a Sentinel Representative includes any director, advisory board member, financial advisor, legal counsel or employee.
Duty to Sentinel. Each Sentinel Representative owes a duty to the Sentinel to advance the Sentinel’S legitimate interests when the opportunity to do so arises. Each Sentinel Representative must give undivided allegiance when making decisions affecting the organization. Similarly, Sentinel Representatives must be faithful to the Sentinel’s nonprofit mission and are not permitted to act in a way that is inconsistent with the central goals of the organization and its nonprofit status.
Gifts. No Sentinel Representative shall personally accept gifts or favors that could compromise his or her loyalty to the Sentinel. Any gifts or benefits personally accepted from a party having a material interest in the outcome of the Sentinel or its employees by a Sentinel Representative individually should be merely incidental to his or her role as a Sentinel Representative and should not be of substantial value. Any gift with a value of $250 or more, or any gifts with a cumulative value in excess of $250 received by a Sentinel Representative in any 12-month period from a single source, shall be considered substantial. Cash payments may not be accepted, and no gifts should be accepted if there are strings attached. For example, no Sentinel Representative may accept gifts if he or she knows that such gifts are being given to solicit his or her support of or opposition to the outcome or content of any Sentinel publication.
Conflicts of Interest. The following are examples of conflicts of interest which must be promptly disclosed to the Sentinel Board of Directors pursuant to Section 4 below by any Sentinel Representative with knowledge of such conflict of interest:
(a) any real or apparent conflict of interest between a donor or the subject of a Sentinel publication or report and a Sentinel Representative;
(b) a Sentinel Representative’s ownership of an equity interest in a person or entity that is or will be the subject of a Sentinel publication or report; and
(c) failure to disclose to the Sentinel all relationships between the subject of any Sentinel publication or report and any Sentinel Representative or close relatives of the Sentinel Representative.
Conflict Procedure:
(a) If a Sentinel Representative or party related to a Sentinel Representative has an interest in any contract, action or transaction to be entered into with the Sentinel, a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest exists. Any Sentinel Representative having knowledge that such a conflict of interest exists or may exist (an “Interested Sentinel Representative”) will so advise the Board of Directors promptly. An Interested Sentinel Representative will include in the notice the material facts as to the relationship or interest of the Interested Sentinel Representative in the entity proposing to enter into a contract, action or transaction with the Sentinel.
(b) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Board of Directors may authorize any committee appointed pursuant to the Sentinel by-laws (a “Committee”) to act in lieu of the Board of Directors in determining whether an action, contract or transaction is fair to Sentinel as of the time it is authorized or approved by the Committee.
(c) At any time that a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest is identified, the President of the Board or a Chair of the applicable Committee will ensure that such conflict of interest is placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable. The notice of such meeting of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will include, to the extent available when the notice is sent, a description of the conflict of interest matter to be discussed. By notice before the meeting or at the meeting, the directors on the board or the Committee, as applicable, will be advised that a vote will be taken at the meeting and that, in order to authorize the relevant contract, action or transaction, an affirmative vote of a majority of disinterested directors present at the meeting at which a quorum is present will be required and will be sufficient, even though the disinterested directors constitute less than a quorum of the Board of Directors or the Committee.
(d) Reasonable effort will be made to cause the material facts concerning the relationships between the individuals and MEMBER which create the conflict to be delivered to and shared with the members of the Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, prior to the meeting to enable the directors to arrive at the meeting prepared to discuss the issue. In the event it is not practicable to deliver the information prior to the meeting, it will be delivered to the directors at the meeting, and the directors can act upon the matter with the same authority as if notice had been given prior to the meeting.
(e) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will invite all parties to the conflict of interest to attend the meeting, to make presentations and to be prepared to answer questions, if necessary. The Board or Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will also invite outside experts if necessary.
(f) At the meeting, providing a quorum is present, the conflict will be discussed to ensure that the directors present are aware of the issues and the factors involved. The interested directors may be counted for purposes of a quorum, even though they may not take part in any vote on the issues.
(g) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, must decide, in good faith, reasonably justified by the material facts, whether the action, contract or transaction would be in the best interest of the Sentinel and fair to the Sentinel as of the time it is authorized or approved.
(h) All interested directors must abstain from voting and, if necessary, leave the room when the vote is taken.
(i) The Board of Directors or the Committee, as applicable, will maintain a written account of all that transpires at the meeting and incorporate such account into the minutes of the meeting and disseminate it to the full Board of Directors. Such minutes will be presented for approval at the next meeting of the Board of Directors and maintained in the corporate record book.
(j) To the extent that the conflict of interest is continuing and the contract, action or transaction goes beyond one (1) year, the foregoing notice and discussion and vote will be repeated on an annual basis.
Personal Loans. The Sentinel may not loan to, or guarantee the personal obligations of, any Sentinel Representative.
The Webb City Sentinel isn’t a newspaper – but it used to be, serving Webb City, Missouri, in print from 1879-2020. This “newspaper” seeks to carry on that tradition as a nonprofit corporation.
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DIY website design by Bob Foos
