<div class="underwrite"><img src="http://www.journalismaccelerator.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1.png" alt="" align="left" /><a href="http://taoofjournalism.org/directory.cfm" target="_blank">We've taken the pledge! </a> "By displaying this seal, we hereby agree to be Transparent, Accountable and Open."</div>
In commitment to ethics in journalism, the Journalism Accelerator has taken the <a href="http://taoofjournalism.org/" target="_blank">TAO of Journalism</a> pledge!

Displaying the TAO of Journalism seal on the Journalism Accelerator website means our team has made a commitment to honor the same standards that we admire in those working day in, day out across the field of news and reporting. In an age of new media, where news travels quickly and experts are emerging everywhere, the JA will do our part to model the values of the TAO Pledge.

The <a href="http://taoofjournalism.org/pledge.cfm" target="_blank">pledge</a> is a promise made by journalists, newsmakers and media professionals across the country to be “<strong>T</strong>ransparent about who you are, <strong>A</strong>ccountable for your mistakes, and <strong>O</strong>pen to other points of view.” And the Journalism Accelerator <a href="http://www.journalismaccelerator.com/about/ja-team/" target="_blank">team</a> has made it to you.<!--more-->

[caption id="attachment_2043" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Jacob Caggiano and John Hamer mapping the media landscape at the Washington News Council."]<img class="size-medium wp-image-2043  " title="Jacob Caggiano and John Hamer at the Washington News Council" src="http://www.journalismaccelerator.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/JacobandJohn-250x186.jpg" alt="Jacob Caggiano and John Hamer at the Washington News Council" width="250" height="186" />[/caption]

John Hamer of the <a href="http://wanewscouncil.org/" target="_blank">Washington News Council</a> came up with the concept in 2008 at a <a href="http://www.publicpress.org/7969" target="_blank">Journalism that Matters conference </a>in Washington, D.C. About two dozen people attended Hamer’s discussion about the standards to which journalists should be held—the same principles they ask of those that they cover: transparency, accountability and openness, or TAO. After the  TAO concept was vetted within the journalism community, it was unofficially launched in 2010.

As the TAO has spread across the country, it is gaining favorable attention and the <a href="http://taoofjournalism.org/directory.cfm" target="_blank">directory of pledgers</a> continues to grow. The TAO is voluntary. It is not assigned nor is it monitored by the Washington News Council. Choosing to abide by the pledge is in itself a demonstration of ethics.

The Journalism Accelerator is proud to take the TAO pledge and promise you that as our network grows, we will continue to honor the principles of the pledge to the public and to our community.