Hard to Make a Stand

As an editor there are times when you find yourself torn between personal/public sentiment and the journalistic ideal of providing a neutral forum. Last month with the dust-up over having Hydra as an advertiser when our authors are calling for an association to promote ethical standards, Hydra’s subsequent response, and the discussion of when it is appropriate to drop an advertiser, has lead me affect a change in ReveNews advertising policy.

Effective immediately: Any potential direct advertiser who in the 12 months prior to requesting an ad does not maintain a clean record will be denied placement. A clean record shall constitute not having the advertiser’s business tactics identified as being unethical or harmful by Ben Edelman, Kellie Stevens, Center for Democracy and Technology, Sun Microsystems, the Webwatch Project, not having been fined by the Federal Trade Commission, or currently in a lawsuit with a state attorney general.

Ultimately ReveNews is not a watchdog group and the final decision on whether to accept an advertiser will still be the burden of the editor. However, I have seen good people like the folks at ABestWeb, the PMA, Avantlink, ShareASale take steps to improving the makeup of our industry. I applaud their efforts as well as the efforts of those listed above who spend time and energy being vigilant. I think it is time ReveNews makes a stand as well.