This policy was last modified on Sept. 22, 2014.
Corporate Knights has a strict policy regarding the separation of revenue streams from research services and the editorial content of Corporate Knights Magazine. Any employee or writer found to have allowed unfair influence from advertisers or other revenue streams on the organization’s print or online content will be dismissed.
Our readers can expect to find five types of content on corporateknights.com:
CK Content
This represents the vast majority of what you will see on this website. These are news stories, features, Q&As, columns, podcasts, and video independently produced by Corporate Knights staff or paid freelancers.
Guest Contributions
From time to time we will publish unpaid article submissions from external sources on topics that are consistent with Corporate Knights’ editorial mandate. Articles are reviewed prior to publication and will be rejected if they contain material that is promotional of a particular product, company or brand. Our objective in publishing such articles, which will consist mostly of guest commentaries, is to get diverse points of view on the sustainability issues our readers care most about. Readers will be informed of the writer’s professional title on all guest contributions.
Reposted Content
Corporate Knights believes our readers appreciate the content that others produce, whether the source is expert blogs, advocacy organizations, or other media organizations within the sustainability ecosystem. We believe that both competition and cooperation serves our readers better. We also believe it is our job as a news organization to seek out important stories or perspectives that have slipped under the radar. For this reason, we make an effort to repost content from other sources with permission and full attribution. Likewise, we encourage other organizations to republish Corporate Knights articles on condition of proper attribution and a link back to the original story as it appears on this site. (NOTE: We do not authorize republication of CK photography or artwork.)
Sponsored Content
Sponsored content is defined as content that is paid for by an organization (the “sponsor”) or published as part of a partnership external to our standard editorial process and guidelines. “Sponsored Feature” will identify content as such at the top of the article, and appear with a light grey background on the homepage or landing page. A sponsor’s logo may also be included. If you have questions about whether an article is sponsored or otherwise the product of a partnership, you can always contact us directly for full information.
Partnered Series
Associations, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, companies or coalitions will on occasion help fund production of a package of articles that cover a particular sustainability issue or theme that they care about. We will clearly label these as a “Partnered Series.” Such funders will be clearly recognized in projects. Furthermore, Corporate Knights will only work with such funders on condition that stories be written by independent freelance writers we have selected and that the funders, while helping brainstorm ideas for stories, do not have influence in the story creation process. In cases where one of the articles in the package is a guest commentary from a funder or a funder affiliate, it will be clearly identified as such. In cases where Corporate Knights or an assigned freelancer sees genuine value in interviewing a funder’s employee or funder-affiliated source for a story – given that funders will have knowledge and a natural interest in the subject matter they are backing -- that employee will be clearly identified as a representative of the funder. Articles in a Partnered Series, as independently written pieces, will remain in our archives.
If you have any questions about our “Content Disclosure Policy,” please contact our Editor-In-Chief at editorial [@] corporateknights.com.