For contributors, please make sure you read Grit Daily’s Editorial Guidelines and instructions for contributed content:
Before You Start:
Please email to [email protected]
- Professional headshot photo (.jpg or .png) and
- Professional byline that complies with Grit Daily’s formatting and
- Best email address to associate with Grit Daily’s back-end content-management system.
Sample Byline:
Wonder Woman is a Columnist at Grit Daily. Based in _________, she …include some information about you.
Editorial Guidelines:
1. Original Content Only.
Grit Daily maintains a zero tolerance policy toward plagiarism and checks both staff and contributor content for such offenses.
4. Subject Matter
Grit Daily is a news outlet, therefore every story should surround some form of trending news (max four (4) days). Thus, full-on investigative reporting is welcome.
5. Expert Opinions
If you are a subject-matter expert, you are more than welcome to analyze a particular news story, providing your own opinion and take-away from the piece. If you’re an expert you can “analyze it.” Grit Daily may add an “Opinion” disclaimer to some pieces.
6. Grammar Usage
- Avoid exclamation points (!), ellipses (…), slashes (/) and ampersands (&)
- Common nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs should be lower case.
- Remember we are a news outlet.
7. Linking Out
Each news story requires at least one (1) link to another reputable news source with respect to any research.
No affiliate or promotional links, as they are not reliable and only hurt the outlet’s ranking, indexing, and of course, credibility (including yours). For affiliate links, please see Grit Daily’s Advertising Page.
8. Internal Links
Ever notice when you read Bloomberg, Forbes, ABC, CNN, TechCrunch, Mashable, USA Today, etc. why they are always linking to internal stories that other writers from their outlet have done?
Always use internal links. Each story requires at least one (1) link that points to another page on the same news site– in this case, that “same news site” is Grit Daily. Usually the best route is to link back to your own latest article on Grit Daily.
9. Conflicts of Interest
Grit Daily may not accept certain content that would otherwise serve as an advertisement. Contact our editorial team for more information.
10. Using WordPress to Publish Your Article
Please email your editor for the WordPress Instructions and our associated guidelines with publishing to the platform. Your content may not publish automatically as it must be approved by an editor beforehand.
Associated Press Editorial Guidelines
For all other editorial guidelines, we follow Associated Press — or AP — style.
For more assistance, please visit the “AP-style cheat sheet” here.
Grit Daily’s Fact Checking Policy
Staff writers at Grit Daily conduct their own fact checking and adhere to our ethics policy. Editors are also responsible for assuring that content from their assigned writers is factual and used in appropriate context. Grit Daily and its staff are dedicated to responsible journalism, which means not only doing due diligence in fact checking information but analyzing the sources in which information comes from and being precise and intentional with the words we write. We may do additional fact checking from time to time.
Corrections Policy
Grit Daily may issue a correction or update from time to time as necessary. Such instances will be clearly marked at the bottom of the article that was updated with new information or issued a correction.
Ethics Policy
This policy applies to all members of Grit Daily’s staff, and in some parts to its contributor program.
Grit Daily maintains a dedication to report ethically and truthfully. Reporters are required to fact check their work and report without bias to assure their reporting is fair and objective. Grit Daily is dedicated to avoiding conflict of interest, whether financial or personal, and will clearly disclose any possible conflicts when they cannot be avoided.
Finance
Grit Daily staff is not allowed to accept any financial trade in exchange for positive reporting. On occasion, writers will be given special access or product in exchange for coverage.
Writers are required to disclose any product they may have been given in exchange for coverage and are required to get this type of coverage approved by an editor beforehand, with exceptions to press passes at events or early access to film, music or television for review purposes.
Staff is not allowed to resell items that have been gifted.
Grit Daily staff cannot accept financial or product compensation in exchange for endorsing a product either through their coverage at Grit Daily or on social media.
Grit Daily will clearly mark any sponsored content or links that have been added to its website for promotional purposes.
Campaigns and Politics
Grit Daily staff is encouraged to withhold bias when possible, though we do not want to dissuade our staff from participating in elections or civic duty on all levels.
Social Media
Staff is asked to remember that social media content is a reflection of Grit Daily as a company. Grit Daily therefore asks that its staff practice good judgement in using social media. As a member of the Grit Daily staff you are encouraged to use it to your advantage—we believe social media is a fantastic tool for journalists—but understand that your actions on social media reflect your work as a professional.
In the age of misinformation, many may look to your social media accounts for guidance and truth. Be careful when posting or reposting content and remember that your social media content is a reflection of your journalism. Avoid circulating information that has not been proven true, or could imply inherent bias in a way that may compromise your reporting as a whole.