DESERT FOX Editorial Standards for Community Contributors

DESERT FOX (DFOX) Editorial Standards for Community Contributors

Desert Fox is dedicated to community journalism, civic engagement, public affairs, business reporting, culture, and issues affecting residents throughout the Coachella Valley and surrounding communities.

Contributors are encouraged to share expertise, perspectives, and community stories. However, submissions must meet established journalistic and ethical standards.

Desert Fox does not accept editorial content that functions primarily as advertising.

The following standards apply:

• Articles must contain factual, verifiable information.

• Opinions are welcome when clearly identified as opinion pieces and supported by facts.

• Promotional content, sales pitches, product endorsements, or marketing copy may be rejected.

• Contributors must disclose conflicts of interest, sponsorships, employment relationships, or financial interests related to the subject matter.

• Any statements that could affect a person’s reputation must be supported by reliable evidence.

• Editors reserve the right to fact-check, edit, reject, or remove content that fails to meet publication standards.

• Contributors may lose publishing privileges if they repeatedly submit misleading, inaccurate, promotional, defamatory, or otherwise inappropriate content.

Desert Fox follows accepted principles of responsible journalism, transparency, and public accountability. Publication on this platform is a privilege, not a right, and all content remains subject to editorial review.

By submitting material, contributors agree to these standards and acknowledge the authority of the editorial staff to make final publication decisions.

For additional protection, I would recommend adding one short legal sentence to all three sites:

“Content submitted for publication grants the publisher a non-exclusive right to edit, publish, archive, remove, or decline publication at any time and for any reason consistent with the publication’s editorial standards.”

That language is common across many news and publishing platforms and helps protect your editorial discretion.