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Children's Technology Review
Editorial
Guidelines & Disclosures
Important Information
for CTR Readers and Advertisers
In
an effort to protect the independent, critical nature of the
reviews that appear in our publications, Active Learning
Associates, Inc. (the publisher of Children's Technology Review (CTR) and this web site
has established the following set of editorial guidelines.
EFFORTS
TO MINIMIZE OTHER POTENTIAL SOURCES OF
BIAS
CTR editors follow the New York Times Editorial Guidelines. (CTR Editor Warren Buckleitner contributes on a freelance basis to the Times). We also provide editorial content to parenting and educational publications, and follow their respective editorial guidelines.
IN GENERAL
CTR editors and their immediate families are not permitted to work for or own stock, or have any vested financial interest in any company whose product -- software or hardware -- could qualify for review. In other words, we don't own stock in Apple, Microsoft, LeapFrog, Fisher-Price or any other software or technology-related company. More specifically:
1. No income from product sales. CTR does not sell or profit from the sales (in any form) of products that are reviewed. This includes links from reviews to ecommerce sites such as Amazon.com. CTR may sell links or banner advertising to a vendor that sells competing products, but may not put itself in a position to profit from the success of failure of any particular products.
2.
No entry fees. There
is no cost for submitting a product to CTR for review.
Any publisher can submit a product for
review.
3. No award fees or trades. Publishers of products that have earned our "Editor's Choice" seal are permitted to use it for promotional purposes. These seals can be ordered for the cost of printing, directly from an independent printer. CTR has no knowledge of the business transaction between the printer and the publisher.
4. No Fees for endorsements or quotes. If you see a quote from CTR, the publisher did not pay for the placement. Any use of a quote or endorsement must be approved in writing.
GIFTS,
PRESS JUNKETS, REVIEW HARDWARE AND OTHER
GOODIES
1.
Press Junkets -- PR events where transportation and
housing costs are paid for must meet the following
conditions (1) five or more other journalists from other
media outlets must be present at the event, and (2) the
event must have direct editorial significance to CTR.
2. Gifts valued at over $50 (not related in some way to the product) will be returned or not accepted, unless it is in some way directly related to the product that is being reviewed (e.g., an electronic drum set or keyboard needed to review a product, is OK, for example). Items of value are donated to the Mediatech Foundation.
3. Review copies are treated as press releases, and will be archived in a for possible reference or product comparison. They will be not copied or sold.
4. Hardware or software that is sent for review or testing purposes is donated Mediatech Foundation, a non-profit public community technology center.
PR
ACTIVITIES AND SATELLITE MEDIA TOURS (SMTs)
CTR editors do not do SMTs. Any payment or reimbursement
for commentary must come directly from the news media
outlet and not a publisher.
ADVERTISING
PRACTICES
1.
Advertising space in print or online is sold on a first
come, first serve basis at the published prices listed in
the media kit. Editors are not involved in the sale of
advertising, and do not handle insertion orders or media
kit related expenses. 2. CTR, the publication and web site, will contain no "advertorial" content. In other words, positions for feature reviews, cover placement, etc., cannot be purchased, traded or bartered for, and have no connection with advertising content. Any advertising content must be obviously an ad, or will be clearly identified as such. 3. No
advertising content will be accepted that contains
content that is not appropriate for young
children. INDUSTRY
CONSULTING, SPEAKING AT INDUSTRY EVENTS AND GETTING
COMPENSATION IN EXCHANGE FOR FEEDBACK 1. CTR editors are not permitted to consult on product development. -
2. Active Learning Associates, Inc., Children's Technology Review or the name of any CTR staff member may not be listed or acknowledged in credits, documentation or public relations materials without express permission. The
name of any CTR staff member may not appear as a member
of an advisory board in product or company
literature.
OTHER
POTENTIAL SOURCES OF INCOME FROM PUBLISHERS
1. Active Learning Associates sponsors a conference for publishers called Dust or Magic. The tuition of this conference is significant ($1450), and this money comes from publishers.
If you have a question or comment about these guidelines, please contact
us.
Updated: 8/23/07
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