Editorial Disclosure Compliance Principles

General Editorial Principles:

Editorial content must be independent, truthful, and non-misleading.  Editors should not publish content that is false, misleading, or cannot be independently substantiated or verified.  Editors should acknowledge and correct mistakes quickly and clearly.  Editorial content should not be submitted to advertisers for approval. This may influence the independent editorial process.

Do not deceive consumers about the commercial nature of content.  A basic truth-in-advertising principle is that it is deceptive to mislead consumers about the commercial nature of content.  Editors should not permit advertiser influence to compromise editorial integrity.

Disclose material connections.  A disclaimer is needed on editorial that contains any mention of paid advertisers regardless of media or brand. A paid advertiser is defined as any organization that is paying Neptune Holdings to advertise in any of its media. E-commerce partnerships are considered material connections between the publisher and the client and should be disclosed to the reader.

Differentiate advertising from editorial content.  The difference between editorial content and advertising should be clear to the average reader. Print and digital advertisements that resemble editorial content should be clearly labeled as advertising with terms such as “Sponsored Content” or “Advertisement” and visually distinguished from editorial content as appropriate.[1] On websites populated by multiple sources of content, including user-generated content, aggregated content and marketer-provided content, editors and publishers must take special care to distinguish between editorial content and advertising.[2]  Editorial language that is introducing or discussing paid content should not imply that independent editorial judgment was used in the selection of paid schools/employers.

Avoid conflicts of interest.  Editors should not accept favors or gifts intended to influence editorial coverage. Editors should not hold a financial interest in any company they cover. Editors should avoid working with and reporting on the same marketers. Conflicts of interest, including personal relationships that could influence editorial coverage, should be disclosed to the reader.