Ethics Statement

Since launch in 2012, The Jolt Journal has operated under a strict ethics policy that ensures our editorial independence and the integrity of our journalism. All of our editorial staff are required to abide by the following guidelines, many of which exceed standards in our industry.

Earning and keeping the trust of our audience is, and always will be, at the core of The Jolt Journal’s mission. In a world where information is distributed across countless platforms and formats, it’s more important than ever to promote clear ethical guidelines that allow audiences to know where that information comes from and whether it can be trusted.

EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE

Our most valuable asset is the independence that allows us to publish stories without fear.

The Jolt Journal is routinely critical of people and companies we cover, and we’re most proud of our work when we tell stories that people in power would prefer not see the light of day. We are able to enjoy this independence because every member of our editorial team is required to follow a strict code of conduct.

Here are the core guidelines in our code of conduct:

  • We don’t accept things of value from companies or from their PR firms, period
  • We do not accept preconditions for coverage of a story that require us to say certain things
  • We do not give subjects of our reporting the ability to preview or approve interview questions, nor do we allow them to review our stories before we publish
  • We do not allow reporters to cover people or companies where they have a personal conflict
  • We do not make paid endorsements of any kind
  • We do not personally invest in companies we cover
  • Our editorial team does not produce paid content, ever, period

Our policy against receiving anything of value from companies we cover includes, but is not limited to, things like gifts, meals, discounted services, or paid trips and junkets.

PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

In addition to standards that preserve our independence, The Jolt Journal’s reporters are expected to abide by industry-standard ethical guidelines for reporting. This means that our editorial team takes great care to learn the truth and report it, protect our sources, minimize risk of harm, and strive for accuracy and honesty in everything we publish. We use the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics as a baseline for the professional conduct of our editorial staff.

ADVERTISING

Our editorial teams do not directly accept money or other consideration from individuals or entities as a condition or incentive to write a review or story, whether favorable or unfavorable. However, some of our editorial content is made possible through the support of sponsors. This content is clearly marked as content “Presented” by the applicable sponsor. Our sponsors may select which content they wish to support, however, we do not allow our Sales teams, or our sponsors to control or interfere with the editorial integrity of our editorial teams and the content they create.

Some of our content may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, these affiliate links appear automatically, and our editorial teams are not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. We do employ a commerce strategy to optimize certain content for affiliate revenue, and such content is marked as such by including a similar affiliate links disclosure. We work with several providers (currently Skimlinks) to manage our affiliate relationships. You can find out more about their services by visiting their sites.

DISTRIBUTED PLATFORMS

The Jolt Journal is a multimedia brand that is distributed across many platforms, including our own site on the web, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. Our editorial standards apply to all of our platforms.

CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES

Despite making every effort to be accurate in our reporting, sometimes we get something wrong. If we discover a mistake in a story, our editors will promptly issue a correction that removes the inaccurate information and adds a notice of correction that explains the error. In some cases, like if an inaccuracy is contained in a video, we may have to remove the original piece of content and replace it with a version in which the error is omitted.

Sometimes more information about a story we’ve published becomes available that either continues the narrative or clarifies the original story, but it is not a correction. In these cases, we may add and / or change elements of the original story. These updates will be clearly noted at the bottom of the story, indicating the time of the change and a note describing what was changed.

Additionally, we may remove content if we believe it infringes on the intellectual property rights of a third party, otherwise violates any third-party rights, or breaches any applicable law or regulation.

PERSONAL INVESTING

We do not invest in companies we cover, and employees are forbidden from trading or buying stock in companies we cover or companies in the general technology sector.

Additionally, our employees are forbidden from owning or trading in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

OTHER EMPLOYMENT

Employees of The Jolt Journal may not be otherwise employed by or receive compensation from companies that they are likely to cover, nor are they permitted to have any advisory role (paid or unpaid) at those companies. In general, writers and editors of The Jolt Journal are not allowed to conduct journalism for other publications without the express permission of the editor-in-chief.

GIVEAWAYS

From time to time, The Jolt Journal will conduct contests and giveaways for our audiences. We will post rules for each contest and giveaway, which will be binding to individuals who decide to participate. While giveaways or contests may be sponsored by an advertiser or partner, they are not and should never be considered endorsements of the entities involved or their products.

PARTNERSHIPS

From time to time, The Jolt Journal‘s team engages with other businesses, brands, and organizations whose activities resonate with the company as a whole, or with one or more of our editorial teams. These partnerships do not impact the content that our editorial teams independently publish. Our Partnerships team, however, may create content as part of these partnerships, and we may publish this content on our editorial sites. In these cases, we will include a disclosure to describe the nature of the relationship between our editorial brand(s) and the partner(s) and the extent to which our editorial teams were involved in the creation of the content.

FEEDBACK

We’re always interested in hearing from you if you have a concern about our ethical standards. If you see something that doesn’t look right on The Jot Journal, please let us know.