The Center for Integrity in News Reporting

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
992453350
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Little Rock, AR, USA
Phone
5013703317
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,181,643
Expenses
$973,220
Assets
$3,258,861
Liabilities
$-7,162

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEORGE MCCANLESS (VICE PRESIDENT PARTNERSHIPS)
  • RUFUS FRIDAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RUFUS FRIDAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $176,711 total reported compensation
  • GEORGE MCCANLESS (VICE PRESIDENT PARTNERSHIPS): $84,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization will engage in charitable, educational, and literary activities to carry out and accomplish its purposes to promote objective, impartial, and fair news reporting in the united states; educate the general public and current and future journalists and news reporters (continued on schedule o)

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization will engage in charitable, educational, and literary activities to carry out and accomplish its purposes to promote objective, impartial, and fair news reporting in the united states; educate the general public and current and future journalists and news reporters on objective, impartial, and fair journalism and news reporting; and provide resources and materials to the general public and current and future journalists and news reporters on the trends and developments correlated with objective, impartial, and fair journalism and news reporting.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 30
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.1%; rating input score 14
  • Program expense ratio: 42.5%; rating input score 43
  • Fundraising efficiency: $33.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 69.4%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.35; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 71.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 91.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 107.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.1% of revenue deployed · 42.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $414K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $177K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.