Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei told staff members this week that the company would stand behind any employees who participate in the ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd.
“First, let me say we proudly support and encourage you to exercise your rights to free speech, press, and protest,” VandeHei wrote in an email to the entire company on Monday, which was obtained by The New York Times. He was responding to an employee who asked about the company’s policy on protesting. Axios allows its employees to anonymously submit questions to executives every week.
“If you’re arrested or meet harm while exercising these rights, Axios will stand behind you and use the Family Fund to cover your bail or assist with medical bills,” he added.
The Times notes that its own ethics guidelines states that journalists who work for the company “may not march or rally in support of public causes or movements” or take a public stance on public issues, because “doing so might reasonably raise doubts about their ability or The Times’s ability to function as neutral observers in covering the news.”
VandeHei said in a statement to the Times that there has been no change in his company’s policy.
“We trust our colleagues to do the right thing, and stand firmly behind them should they decide to exercise their constitutional right to free speech,” he said in a statement.