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JournoLink

Content Guidelines

Please read our content guidelines to understand how we ensure content produced through the JournoLink platform remains high quality and safe for all visitors.

JournoLink imposes certain guidelines on content written by clients to ensure that releases relate to genuine news stories, are not positioned as advertisements and are suitable for distribution to the media.

All press releases content is checked and JournoLink reserve the right to not publish those which it considers, at its sole discretion, to be inappropriate, or that do not conform to these guidelines.

JournoLink uses intelligent filters to automatically identify and block content which may be considered to be against these guidelines.

Content Length

Content should be of an appropriate length to effectively communicate the story. Guidelines are 80-120 characters for a headline and 250-500 words for body content.

Defamation and Libel

Press release content, including images, must not be (potentially) defamatory or libelous.

Entire Content

The entire content of a press release should be submitted to JournoLink. The content should not be published elsewhere and referenced or linked on JournoLink for any reason, including attempting to avoid content restrictions. Appendices or additional resources may be linked if necessary.

Formatting

Submitted content should be free from any formatting or attempted formatting. No HTML or “Markdown” is currently permitted. The use of uppercase words in the body should be kept to a minimum and should not be used in the headline unless absolutely necessary. Spaces, tabs or whitespace should not be used to attempt to format content.

Genuine News

Press releases should relate to a genuine news story and should not be an article, advertisement or other content which does not relate to an event or story from your business.

Images/Audio/Video Quality and Content

Where images are included with a press release, either uploaded or linked, such images must not contain potentially offensive or inflammatory content, nudity or pornographic content or depictions or any trademark that you do not have permission to use. You must also have permission or a release from any person in any image or video. Uploaded or linked images must be of high quality and freely usable for the press. Thumbnails or watermarked images should not be used.

Keyword “Stuffing” and SEO techniques

Press release content should not contain keyword “stuffing” (meaning the intentional overuse of specific words or phrases) or employ other techniques for the purpose of attempting to optimise or artificially inflate scoring or ranking on search engines or directories.

Language

Press releases should be in English and avoid obscene, offensive or potentially inflammatory language or terms. Spelling and grammar should be checked before submission.

Links and URLs

HTML links are not accepted as part of a press release. URLs can be included in the content but should be kept to a minimum. As a guide this should be no more than 1 link for every 100-150 words of content. We may also restrict linking to specific URLs or domain names for the protection of users.

Non-Press Release Content

Non press release content, such as blog posts, general articles, stories, reviews or editorials or any other content that does not relate to genuine news item or does not efficiently communicate to the press will not be published.

Ownership of Content and Permission to Publish

You must own, or have permission or licence to use and publish, the appropriate copyright for any content, including text and/or any audio/visual content, prior to submitting the press release. You must also have permission to communicate the information, and any audio/visual content, to the public.

Quotes

Press releases should generally contain a relevant quote from someone related to the news item. All quotes should be attributed. You should ensure that quotes are accurate and the person being quoted has given their permission for it to be used and for them to be attributed.

Spam Content

Words or phrases that are likely to be identified as Spam should be avoided. This may include words such as Sex, XXX, Buy Now or Multi-level Marketing. This list is not exhaustive and we are not able to publish a definitive list, however genuine content is highly unlikely to be caught by Spam filters.

Timeliness

Content should be released in a timely manner. Press releases related to an event too far in the future, or in the past may not be published unless reporting on the event and outcome.

Last Updated: 25 June 2017