Sponsored Post Policy

Posted on 22 May, 2015

HerCanberra is a website that’s free for you to enjoy—and we hope you do! But the fact that you don’t pay to read our articles means that we need to find other ways of covering important stuff like salaries and web hosting and rent and electricity and, er, food.

To ensure that the articles we post each day remain free for readers, we need to bring in revenue and the way we do that is by advertising. Sometimes, this advertising is in the form of banner ads. Other times, sponsored posts. We also sometimes do social media activations and events. Where we think you’d benefit, we run giveaways—sometimes these are part of a commercial deal, sometimes not.

When it comes to sponsored posts, our general rule of thumb is that there needs to be something in it for the reader. If we don’t think that the content will be interesting or engaging, we won’t publish it. We’ll find a different solution. Because what’s the point, right?

We have never done the ‘editorial from a can’ thing and we won’t do it going forward. We work hard—for you AND our clients—to ensure that our sponsored content is great quality and a good yarn.

It’s important to note that pretty much all of our clients are local businesses, and we believe that by helping them tell their story we’re doing our bit to help the local economy.

We take our responsibility as a credible source of information seriously, so we won’t say anything that isn’t a true representation of our opinion of a product or service, even if we’re paid for it. Ever. We’ve turned down more than a few requests for coverage because the product or service isn’t something we’d recommend to our community.

Here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions about sponsored posts. If you want to chat more, email hello@hercanberra.com.au and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.

How do I know if a post is sponsored?

Every sponsored post includes the logo of the sponsor at the top left of the page.

We also ensure that any review posts abide by ACCC advice.

Who writes the sponsored posts?

Sponsored posts are conceived and written by the HerCanberra team, in conjunction with the client.

What are your ethical guidelines around the advertising and sponsored posts published on HerCanberra?

We need to be comfortable with what we publish. If something makes us think, ‘Ooooh, I just don’t know about this…’ then we won’t publish it.

We present information and our personal experiences in an honest way and trust you to make up your mind about it. Just like with any other advertising medium.

We will always ensure that there are appropriate disclaimers around content to enable you to do this.

Aren’t sponsored posts just the same as cash-for-comment?

Absolutely not. The term cash-for-comment refers to the deceptive practice of journalists, bloggers or broadcasters secretly taking cash in order to spruik goods or services. The key here is non-disclosure. HerCanberra will always disclose when a post is sponsored.