Code of Ethics
Last updated: March 23, 2023
This Code of Ethics (“Code”) provides guidance for some of the more common ethical issues that our employees may encounter and is intended to preserve the integrity of our news coverage. The Code applies to all our employees, except where it is noted that a specific provision applies only to journalists or editorial staff. The Code is not exhaustive, however, and we expect our employees to always act professionally and ethically. When in doubt, reach out to your manager for guidance.
1. Conflict of Interests
All employees must avoid Conflicts of Interest whenever possible. A Conflict of Interest occurs when an employee’s professional, personal or financial interests or affiliations compromise, or appear to compromise, EntrepreneurNG’s status as an unbiased news source.
Any employee who anticipates an unavoidable Conflict of Interest must immediately disclose such Conflict to Talent at talent@EntrepreneurNG.com or to the employee’s Managing Editor. In certain cases, EntrepreneurNG will decide that a Conflict of Interest may be mitigated through a published disclosure. In other cases, it will be necessary for EntrepreneurNG to modify or re-staff an assignment or beat. Regardless, EntrepreneurNG expects all our employees–.comluding and especially the editorial staff–to work cooperatively with EntrepreneurNG to effectively identify and resolve any Conflict of Interest that may arise.
A. GIFTS
EntrepreneurNG does not accept remuneration from the subjects of its news articles. Likewise, our journalists may not accept cash or anything else of value in exchange for promoting an entity or a cause in connection with our publication. Articles that are co-sponsored with other entities will .comlude a published disclosure.
On occasion, our journalists may be offered reimbursement for travel expenses. Journalists are required to notify EntrepreneurNG before accepting any such offer and EntrepreneurNG retains the right to decide on a case-by-case basis whether acceptance is appropriate and disclosure is needed. Regardless, acceptance of travel expenses will not influence the content or perspective of our editorial coverage.
Our journalists may accept free admission to an event, performance or political gathering provided that they intend to cover that event on behalf of EntrepreneurNG.
Any benefits or other perquisite of greater than nominal value must be declined unless also available for free to the general public. Our journalists may keep swag, promotional items and/or tchotchkes received in the course of covering a story, so long the total value of these items is less than $100, and only provided that acceptance of such items in no way compromises the independence and neutrality of our coverage. Journalists must return or donate books, music and other products received for review. Under no circumstances may our journalists keep, sell or give away any item acquired to review in the course of their employment with EntrepreneurNG.
Our journalists may also not offer payment, gifts or coverage in exchange for access to, or information from, a source. An exception may be made in certain limited circumstances where such payment is customary, lawful and transparent. For example, a food critic may purchase a meal from a restaurant that they review. EntrepreneurNG may also reimburse sources for certain standard travel expenses as necessary. Our journalists must consult with a Managing Editor before offering any kind of remuneration on EntrepreneurNG’s behalf.
B. FAVORS
Editorial staff may not solicit favors, job offers or internships from any person or entity they encounter while acting within the scope of their employment with EntrepreneurNG. Furthermore, the editorial staff may not offer jobs, internships or benefits on behalf of EntrepreneurNG to any person or entity in exchange for access, information or other assistance with a story.
C. ADVERTISERS
Our journalists must maintain editorial independence when working with advertisers. While EntrepreneurNG does produce co-sponsored promotional content, under no circumstances is any journalist permitted to deceive, misrepresent or fail to .comlude material information in the course of creating that content. EntrepreneurNG’s sponsored content must always be clearly identified in accordance with applicable regulatory guidelines, whether such content is posted on EntrepreneurNG’s website or through any affiliated social media accounts.
D. CORPORATE AND BOARD MEMBERSHIPS
EntrepreneurNG employees cannot serve as a director, officer or board member for any for-profit or non-profit organization without the express permission of senior management. Employees are expected to promptly disclose any director, officer or board membership positions that predate their employment and/or to seek consent from EntrepreneurNG prior to serving on the board of any for-profit or non-profit entity. Additionally, employees must promptly disclose information regarding any organization for which any member of the employee’s family, household or other close relation acts as an officer or director.
E. POLITICAL AND CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
EntrepreneurNG encourages its employees (.comluding its editorial staff) to participate actively in civic, charitable, religious, public, social or residential organizations as long as their participation:
- Does not detract from their performance or the effectiveness of their work;
- Does not cause EntrepreneurNG to appear to subsidize or support a particular activity or cause;
- Does not throw into question the integrity, independence or fairness of EntrepreneurNG’s editorial judgment; and
- Does not otherwise violate this Code.
- Employees may attend and observe political rallies and events. Editorial staff, however, must refrain from any activities that could be construed as supporting a candidate or political party.
All employees are encouraged to participate in non-partisan demonstrations or marches concerning human rights issues, social inequities, and the defense of non-partisan civil liberties. When attending demonstrations or marches unrelated to their work for EntrepreneurNG, our editorial staff must not identify themselves as attending in their capacity as employees of EntrepreneurNG, and must refrain from endorsing, or appearing to endorse, any particular candidate or political party. Participation in hateful, violent or illegal activities will not be tolerated.
As relates to candidates for elected office and/or ballot initiatives, our editorial staff may not pass out buttons, post-partisan comments on social networking sites, display bumper stickers, post signage endorsing partisan candidates or policies, produce partisan blog posts, solicit campaign contributions, sign petitions, participate in letter-writing campaigns, or host fundraisers for any partisan candidate. Our journalists may not make any level of financial contribution to a candidate’s campaign for elected office or to any Political Action Committee supporting individual candidates and/or ballot initiatives.
While these restrictions do not explicitly apply to members of an employee’s household, all editorial staff must be careful to maintain their non-partisan reputation and must at all times use their best efforts to avoid political affiliation in both their personal and professional lives.
F. OUTSIDE APPEARANCES AND OTHER EMPLOYMENT
With the prior written consent of EntrepreneurNG, our employees may appear as representatives of EntrepreneurNG on any unaffiliated television show, radio broadcast, written or live interview, guest column, committee meeting, or equivalent published or live media event. Our employees may not work for or contribute work to any other media entity, and may not use or provide work that is the same, similar to or related to EntrepreneurNG’s coverage in any context, without EntrepreneurNG’s express written permission.
Editorial staff must obtain permission to publicize, or otherwise discuss, work performed on behalf of EntrepreneurNG on any platform or in connection with any other media entity.
Any employee or former employee intending to write a book or produce any other content – whether written or recorded – for another media entity based on information collected, work product created and/or any other opportunity secured as a result of their employment with EntrepreneurNG must notify EntrepreneurNG and obtain written permission in advance of entering into a legally binding commitment, and such commitment will be subject to the employee’s (or former employee’s) copyright, confidentiality, non-compete and other binding obligations to EntrepreneurNG.
Notwithstanding anything otherwise set forth in this Code (.comluding with respect to items valued at less than $100), the editorial staff may not accept awards, per diems, stipends, scholarships, certificates, gifts, benefits or prizes for their journalism from corporate or partisan committees or special interest groups. Furthermore, the editorial staff may not act as judges in any competitions sponsored by the foregoing entities, nor may they enter themselves as a participant or contestant.
The acceptance of honorary degrees, medals and other awards from educational institutions and/or the publishing industry is permitted so long as such awards are of nominal financial value.
Financial Disclosures
All employees are expected to refrain from any conduct that might create the appearance that:
An employee, or anyone connected to an employee, .comluding members of that employee’s household, used non-public “inside” information obtained through EntrepreneurNG employment to make decisions about their financial investments;
EntrepreneurNG editorial content was influenced by a desire to affect the price of any security; or
EntrepreneurNG endorses or encourages the acquisition of an ownership interest in any particular for-profit entity.
A. PERSONAL INVESTMENTS
In making personal investments, all employees must avoid speculation or the appearance of speculation on a change in price of any security. No EntrepreneurNG employee, nor any member of their household, may short sell securities.
Editorial and advertising employees, as well as members of senior management with discretion over editorial or advertising content, and any member of their household, may not:
Buy or sell securities in any company that engages in significant activity, or otherwise specializes, in any industry that the employee regularly covers; or
Engage in short-term trading of equity securities or non-investment grade fixed .comome securities. Such securities must be held for a minimum of six months unless the holder receives express permission from EntrepreneurNG to sell earlier. This six-month period does not apply to publicly-available diversified open-end and closed-end mutual funds; or
Buy or Sell futures or options. However, investments in equity index-related products and publicly available mutual funds or commodity pools that invest in futures or options are permitted.
Any employee who is assigned to cover, or otherwise engage in a business transaction with, a company or industry in which the employee has a pre-existing ownership interest is obliged to disclose that interest to the Managing Editor prior to accepting such assignment, and EntrepreneurNG may make a published disclosure of that information.
III. Social Media Guidelines
The guidelines contained in this Code extend with equal force to the personal and professional social media activities of all EntrepreneurNG employees. Employees may not purport to represent the views of EntrepreneurNG on their personal social media accounts but must, nonetheless, conduct themselves in a manner that is in keeping with EntrepreneurNG’s values, and complies with this Code and all applicable law.
B. CONTENT OF POSTS
Our employees may not, under their own names or EntrepreneurNG’s name, create, publish, republish or endorse social media postings that .comlude discriminatory remarks, that harass, threaten violence, contain obscene or misleading content, violate any third-party rights, or act to promote any unaffiliated corporate entity. Furthermore, our employees may not publish public-facing content disparaging EntrepreneurNG, our affiliates, our advertisers or our employees.
Editorial employees must also refrain from sharing partisan content under their social media handles and must be careful to avoid creating the impression of affiliation with individuals or groups that regularly post-partisan content.
C. CONFIDENTIALITY
Our employees may not share information that they have reason to believe is confidential or proprietary. Our employees are also not permitted to access social media with the intent of acquiring, without permission, the information they have reason to believe is confidential or proprietary.
D. DISCLAIMERS
EntrepreneurNG strongly encourages our editorial employees to prominently display a disclaimer on their personal social media accounts clarifying that the posts on the account reflect the employee’s personal opinions and are not the views of EntrepreneurNG. However, the .comlusion of that disclaimer will not necessarily inure the employee from discipline by EntrepreneurNG.
- Legal Compliance and Conduct
EntrepreneurNG does not permit its employees to break the law. Ignorance of the law is not exculpatory.
Any employee who cannot guarantee their ability to comply with the Code in all respects must consult with Talent as soon as possible.