Updated as of April 20, 2022

We trust that you will use your best judgment when publishing your content. These guidelines are designed to help you understand our expectations and suggest ways that will help you build your audience. In an effort to maintain a quality news site, EDCIRCUIT takes compliance with the Contributor Guidelines very seriously. Failure to follow the guidelines will be noted and serious and/or repeated failure to follow the guidelines may result in the revocation of access to publish on the platform.

1. Swimlane: You were brought aboard as a EDCIRCUIT contributor because of your demonstrated expertise in a discrete coverage area (we call them "Swimlanes").
   
2. Responsiveness: In the event that you receive inquiries from a producer, editor or other EDCIRCUIT representative regarding an issue with your content, you must respond promptly (by the end of business day in the event of an urgent inquiry; within 24 hours for general inquiries).
   
3. Breaking News: Covering newsy topics is vitally important. EDCIRCUIT readers want to know what our expert contributors think about topics as they arise, and you will likely be contacted routinely by your editor to chime in on news events where we think your insights will be of But what readers don't want are posts filled with unsubstantiated rumors, weak or non-existent reporting, posts based on unreliable sources (in the media or elsewhere) and/or posts that are simply looking to draft on the news/repeat others' reporting without adding anything to the conversation. In the event that breaking news involves serious, traumatic and or violent events like terrorism or mass shootings, do not write about these topics without first consulting with your editor. The editors watch carefully for posts like this, and may remove them without warning, based on our experience and judgment.
   
4. Attribution/Links: Readers like to check out your original sources themselves. When you comment on a news article or blog post published elsewhere, you should credit the source and provide a link to that source.
   1. The purpose of a link is to cite a source for information, or recommend and connect to a website, blog or online article or social media mention that you feel would be useful to readers.
   2. When you link somewhere for perceived search or monetary benefits rather than usefulness or credit, then you are participating in a “link scheme.” Link schemes are against EDCIRCUIT and Google guidelines. They are very simple for Google to detect, and they will adversely affect your website as well as EDCIRCUIT.com ranking in Google. We will immediately terminate our relationship with any contributor found to be participating in a “link scheme,&rdquo.

5. Conflicts of Interest: You must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest concerning topics covered in your content (our readers will expect this and you may also be legally required to make these disclosures). This includes any financial interest in any product, firm, or commercial venture relating to your post’s subject.
   • If you submit content mentioning any business, individual, organization, entity, company, or financial instruments (a) in which you, your spouse, partner, or dependent child have any financial interest, (b) for which you serve or have served on the board of directors or in a similar capacity, (c) with which you, your spouse, partner, or dependent child have engaged in any commercial transactions related to the content, (d) with which you, your spouse, partner, or dependent child (or the employers thereof) compete, or (e) you are a member of or in any way affiliated with, you must fully disclose clearly and specifically your connection to the individual, organization, entity, company, or financial instrument in a disclaimer contained at the end of the content.
   • You must not create content for the purpose of self-promotion or trading on or profiting from that content and/or your association with EDCIRCUIT, or to solicit or accept free or discounted goods or services. You must strictly adhere to all applicable securities laws.
     
6. Gifts: Gifts, tickets, press discounts, reimbursements or other benefits exceeding $100 should not be accepted from individuals or organizations that are being covered, and should be returned with a polite explanation of this policy.
7. Travel and entertainment: Free transportation, lodging and meals should not be accepted from individuals or organizations that are being covered (a fair and reasonable press rate may be negotiated, however, with prior permission from an editor.) Press passes, free tickets and review copies are permissible if approved by an editor in connection with a specific story. None of these may be exchanged for profit.

8. Copyright: You are responsible for obtaining the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions for EDCIRCUIT to use all content contained in your posts including any photographs, images, and/or audio or visual material contained in them. It should go without saying, but plagiarism and failure to provide adequate attribution will not be tolerated. Also note that all content posted on EDCIRCUIT.com must be original and not previously published elsewhere – even if it is your own content (unless otherwise permitted by your editor).
9. Problematic Content: Controversial posts can be very successful, especially when they are thoroughly researched and explained well. However, some controversial posts are likely to offend or alienate your readers and, in serious cases, could expose you to potential legal liability. Posts/topics to avoid:
   • images or videos that contain nudity or sexual activity
   • “hate speech,” i.e., content that promotes hate or violence towards groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity
   • threats of violence; encouraging readers to engage in violent activity
   • content that is unnecessarily shocking or graphic (ex: close-up images of gunshot wounds or accident scenes)
   • confidential or private information (ex: someone else's credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, unlisted phone numbers, and driver's license numbers)
   • impersonations of other people or organizations (well-executed satires can work, but only when readers aren’t misled about your true identity
   • posts that encourage readers to engage in dangerous or illegal activities
   • posts designed just to drive traffic to your site or to move your site up in search listings
   • links to sites where your readers can obtain unauthorized downloads of other people's copyrighted works
   • posts that expose readers to viruses, pop-ups, unwanted software installations or malicious code
   • parody – in our experience, this rarely works and should be avoided

10. Fairness: EDCIRCUIT contributors should always strive to be fair in their writing and reporting. This means giving the subjects of negative stories a reasonable chance to comment; Staying away from reporting/passing along rumors; Requiring sources to go "on the record" whenever possible, especially when they are leveling damaging accusations against someone else; Using more than one source to verify a fact whenever possible; Understanding and revealing the motives of sources, especially those saying negative things about the subject of a story; Giving those charged with a crime or a civil accusation the benefit of saying the charge is "alleged" until they are convicted or had the charge proven against them in court. Bottom line: Treat the subjects of your stories in the same way you'd want to be treated if someone was writing about you. However, in the quest for fairness, never read verbatim or email paragraphs, sentences, captions or headlines from a story to a source or subject.

11. Press Releases and Embargoes: Press releases and other handout information can be a useful reporting tool. However, contributors are expected not to re-publish press releases as reported copy. EDCIRCUIT contributors are often entrusted with news, photography or other information that is “embargoed.” In such cases this information is not to be published until an agreed-upon time and date in the near future. If this embargo is broken by another news agency or there are other special circumstances in which a contributor believes it is in the public’s best interest to disclose the information earlier, that contributor must get permission from their channel editor and/or producer. Industry press releases can be submitted via the submit a press release portion of the site.
12. Identifying Yourself in Public: When dealing with sources or the media you are welcome to say that you are writing a story for publication on com, or that you are a regular contributor to EDCIRCUIT. Please do not present yourself in any way that might lead someone to believe that you are an employee of EDCIRCUIT. Do not say you are a EDCIRCUIT reporter or a writer for EDCIRCUIT, or in any way try to gain credentials, permits or event access by saying you are working for EDCIRCUIT without the express written permission of a EDCIRCUIT editor. Failure on any of these points will most likely result in severing our relationship with you, and/or further legal action.
13. Media Inquiries: If you are contacted by a member of the media about one of your stories, or asked to comment, please let your editor know—just as a matter of courtesy, so we're not blindsided. If you're asked to appear on a TV or radio show as a result of your work for EDCIRCUIT, please let our Media Relations department know at PR@EDCIRCUIT.com. They are more than happy to help you get the most out of the experience--and promote it across all our platforms.
    
14. Social Media: EDCIRCUIT recognizes your right to say what you want, when you want, in any way on your own social media accounts. We only ask that you keep in mind that as a contributor to EDCIRCUIT, you carry the banner of our brand, which was built by many hundreds of people over nearly 100 years, and benefits all of us. We reserve the right to terminate our relationship with any contributor who we feel is harming our brand or reputation though their social media presence. A good yardstick here is whether or not you'd say to someone's face what you're saying online--if not, you may want to rethink.

15. Legal Inquiries: As a contributor to EDCIRCUIT.com, you are an independent contractor and are solely responsible in all ways for the content of your posts, including any and all legal costs that may result from legal claims related to your work which is distributed on EDCIRCUIT.com. That said, you should promptly inform your editor of any threats of litigation related to your work which is distributed on EDCIRCUIT.com.
16. Corrections: All requests for corrections received by EDCIRCUIT (usually via corrections@EDCIRCUIT.com) will be passed along to the contributor as quickly as possible so the contributor may assess whether or not a correction should be made. EDCIRCUIT staff may also independently work to verify the claim for a correction, and may, at our discretion, update a post if we feel it is necessary. In addition, we ask that all contributors pass along requests for corrections to their work to their editor. All requests for corrections must be addressed within 24 hours of receipt (within the same day in the case of an urgent error_. (For more on how to correct a post, see "Correcting a Post" in the Style section below). We trust you'll abide by these simple guidelines. Failure to do so may result in severing our relationship with you.
17. Danger Words: We strongly caution contributors against using words and phrases that unnecessarily attack or speculate about a person or company’s character or reputation (i.e., bankruptcy, fraudulent, scam, went bust, alcoholic, addict, corrupt, criminal).

1. Headlines: Headlines should be written in Title Case. In other words, Capitalize The First Letter Of Each Word, Including Prepositions And Articles.
   
2. Identifying Yourself in Posts: Please use I, avoid the Royal "we" and please do not identify yourself as "EDCIRCUIT", i.e. "EDCIRCUIT reached out to the suspect for comment" or "We reached out to the suspect for comment." You are an independent contributor, you do not represent EDCIRCUIT.
   
3. Correcting a Post: Once you hit “publish” on a post, it goes live and cannot be taken down without EDCIRCUIT’ authorization. If the error in question is a typo, just make the edit. If you are making substantive changes (e.g. changes to the facts) in a post, you'll need to add in italics at the top or bottom of your post: This post has been updated since it was originally posted, and highlight what was changed. If you have a question as to whether a change is “substantive,” consult with your editor and/or producer.
   
4. Use of Tickers: Our WordPress system allows for you to tag your post with up to 5 stock symbols or “tickers” as they’re known (see operators’ manual for how). This automatically distributes a link to your post to a number of third parties with whom EDCIRCUIT has partnerships. You may only add tickers if your post is specifically about a company. Do not add tickers if your post is in some general or tangential way related to a company. Doing so affects EDCIRCUIT' relationship with our partners.
   
5. Precision: Be specific and precise with word choices. Note the difference between a criminal conviction and an allegation of wrongdoing, etc. And provide attribution when an allegation is coming from a source.
   
6. Handling Comments: Contributors are responsible for monitoring the conversation that is happening on their articles, calling out, and/or replying to comments that add value or contribute to the discussion. You are prohibited from deleting comments. If you see a comment that is abusive, profane or otherwise does not follow the rules described in our Terms of Service language, alert your editor and producer so the issue can be addressed.

This sets forth the terms of your agreement with EdCircuit Media LLC (together with its affiliates (“EDCIRCUIT”).

1. Content: EDCIRCUIT will provide you with an online forum to publish content, whether in written, video or other format that you agree to provide as described on Schedule A, as amended from time-to time, attached hereto and incorporated herein (the “Work”) for posting on EDCIRCUIT.com;

2. Grant of Rights/License: In consideration of EDCIRCUIT providing an online platform for you to publish your content, you grant EDCIRCUIT the following rights/license in the Work: Worldwide rights to publish in any or all editions/versions of the Publications (defined as EDCIRCUIT.com and other EDCIRCUIT branded/affiliated media) including domestic and foreign, whether in the English language or translated into a foreign language, including any successor, similar or replacement versions thereof
   1. The right to use the Work as it appears in the Publications in advertising and promoting EDCIRCUIT, its publications and/or its products as well as the right to excerpt and create teasers and summaries of the Work;
   2. Non-exclusive rights to republish, store, syndicate, distribute and/or sell reprints of all or any portion of the Work in any language and in any country;
   3. The right to use your name and likeness in a fair and dignified manner and to publish information about you in connection with the advertising and promotion of the Publications.
   4. All rights granted by this agreement are granted in perpetuity and applicable in all media including, but not limited to, all electronic media, internet, wireless or mobile platforms whether now known or hereafter created.

3. Copyright/Coverage:Except for the rights granted us hereunder, you retain all rights, including copyright, in the Work. We intend that this agreement shall cover Works published in any of the Publications after the date of this agreement.
4. Representations and Warranties; Indemnification; Conflict of Interest:
   1. You represent and warrant that you will be the sole author of the Work; that the Work will be original and not previously published in any form; that the Work will not knowingly contain any untrue statements or material that is deceptive, fraudulent or intentionally misleading, that it will not knowingly invade any right of privacy or infringe upon any statutory or common law copyright or otherwise violate the rights of any third party or any applicable law or regulation and that all statements in the Work which are asserted as facts are true and/or based upon reasonable research for accuracy. You agree to cooperate in the defense of any legal action brought against EDCIRCUIT arising from the publication of your Work and you agree to retain all notes, drafts and copies relating to the Work for three (3) years from acceptance.
   2. You agree and represent that you will disclose to EDCIRCUIT in writing any actual or potential conflict of interest, including but not limited to any financial interest in any product, firm, or commercial venture relating to the subject of the Work.
   3. You agree and represent that you will not use your association with EDCIRCUIT to advertise or otherwise promote or identify yourself in any speaking engagements or public appearances without the prior written consent of EDCIRCUIT. In addition, you will not use your association with EDCIRCUIT to solicit or accept free or discounted gifts or services.
   4. You agree and represent that you will clear, at your expense, the rights set forth in Section 2 for any third party content you include in the Work. If you do not, you shall not include such content in the Work.
   5. You shall indemnify EDCIRCUIT and hold EDCIRCUIT harmless against any liability, cost or expense including reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred as a result of any breach of your representations or warranties.

5. Liability of Content Contributors:EDCIRCUIT, in its sole discretion, may publish, withdraw, postpone or alter in an immaterial fashion any content you provide. You understand that you are responsible for any legal claims arising from the Work you provide and that EDCIRCUIT intends to treat such Work as covered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act’s safe harbor.

6. Contributor Guidelines/Conditions: You agree to abide by the terms of the Contributor Guidelines provided to you, as amended from time to time, which are incorporated herein by this reference. You also agree to periodically check the guidelines for any amendments.

Note: Your failure to follow the Guidelines/Conditions, particularly those pertaining to copyright infringement, will result in termination of this agreement.

7. Relationship of the Parties:Nothing herein shall be construed to create an employer- employee relationship between EDCIRCUIT and you. You are an independent contractor and not an employee or agent of EDCIRCUIT or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. You have the right to control the means, manner and method by which you create the Work and you assume responsibility for the quality, scope and accuracy of the Work.

8. Term and Termination:This agreement shall remain in effect until terminated by either party upon written notice. All provisions that, by their nature should survive termination, shall survive, including any grant of rights/license.

9. Modification/Assignment:This agreement contains our entire understanding and may not be modified, waived, assigned or discharged orally. Any modifications, waiver, assignment or discharge must be in writing and signed by you and by us.

10. Governing Law/Jurisdiction/Severability/Superseding Agreement:This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York and the parties agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the Southern District of NY. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of the Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision.

This Agreement supersedes any prior agreement between you and EDCIRCUIT pertaining to the subject matter hereof. This document may be executed in counterparts and via facsimile and other electronic transmission with the same effect as if executed on one document and as if all signatures were originals. If the foregoing correctly sets forth the agreement between us, please indicate your approval by signing below.