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The following statement of ethics has been determined by the Racked editorial team, and all employees and freelancers have agreed to abide by it.
Purpose
Racked covers shopping from every angle and in various forms. We aim to provide a comprehensive, honest look at the fashion landscape, both on the local and national level. Editorial content on Racked is based on our editorial judgment, not at the directive of any company, advertiser, or PR firm.
Gifts/Freebies/Services/Experiences
Racked staff and contributors may accept gifts/freebies/services/experiences, so long as the acceptance of any of the above in no way compromises or guarantees editorial coverage of the free good(s). Any member of Racked who receives an item/service/experience and reviews or covers such item/service/experience will disclose the relationship in the first instance of coverage of the item/service/experience. If it is determined that a conflict exists for the Racked staff or contributor member or that such person cannot be objective due to this arrangement, the individual will recuse herself from covering that free good(s) for Racked. Racked staff and contributors may not resell gifted items.
From time to time, we’re also given the opportunity to attend subsidized press trips. We do not guarantee coverage under any circumstances. If we do report on these experiences or information gleaned herein, we work hard to guarantee that coverage will be unbiased, include additional research, and receive no vetting from the trip providers. We will always disclose in our coverage that we have received access at no cost.
Our staffers and contributors do sometimes accept early access to sales and events in order to facilitate coverage. Such early access is allowed so long as it does not impact our editorial choices.
Listings and Reviews
Racked may list sales and events, but we do not profit from these sales or events or accept payment to promote them editorially. We do not accept payment for reviews, and we will not exchange coverage in return for products or VIP access.
Advertising
Vox Media employs a dedicated advertising team responsible for selling advertising space across its properties. Any feature on Racked sponsored by a particular company or advertiser that is developed independently by the Vox Creative and Sales teams is clearly marked as an advertisement and as "Advertiser Content." Advertisements and Advertiser Content do not necessarily reflect the views of Racked. Vox Creative and Sales teams have their own set of guidelines and policies for developing content and do not infringe on the creative agency of our team. However, some of our editorial content is made possible through the support of sponsors. This content is clearly marked as content "Presented" by the applicable sponsor. Our sponsors may select which content they wish to support; however, we do not allow our Sales teams, Vox Creative, or our sponsors to control or interfere with the editorial integrity of our team and the content we create. We do not directly accept money or other consideration from individuals or entities as a condition or incentive to write a review or story, whether favorable or unfavorable.
Some of our content contains marketing links, which means Vox Media will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. These affiliate links appear automatically in our on-site content, and Racked’s editorial content is not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. Vox Media does employ a commerce team that works with providers to optimize certain content for affiliate revenue, which includes Racked content.
Personal Conflicts
Any staffer or contributor of Racked who has a spouse, partner, or other close relationship with an employee of a company which that Racked member will be reporting on will disclose the relationship in such coverage. When a Racked staffer or contributor has affiliations or prior employment experience that would represent a material conflict of interest with their reporting, that information will be disclosed in context or footnotes of the piece covering such company.
Corrections
Racked makes every effort for stories to be completely accurate upon publication. Inaccuracies will be corrected. All corrections will be noted. We may, in rare instances, remove content from our website, social media pages, or related platforms for editorial reasons. Removal will always be at our editorial discretion, and will be removed upon approval of leadership. Removal will not be at the direction of, or be influenced by, our advertisers. Additionally, we will remove content if we believe it may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of a third party, otherwise violate any third-party rights, or breach any applicable law or regulation. Removal of such content shall be as directed by Vox Media’s legal team.
Sources
Racked obtains news and content from a variety of sources. Some of our sources do not wish to be named, and our policy is to honor such requests and keep these sources anonymous when we know our sources to be credible and reliable, and that their story would otherwise not be told. We make best efforts to confirm the veracity of the information provided by anonymous sources and will not include any information we have not thoroughly vetted. As general policy, we do not provide compensation for tips. On rare occasions, however, we may contract with a source as a co-creator of content, in which case the source may be paid a certain sum for their content creation contributions.
Professional Appearances
Our staffers and contributors are often asked to appear in a professional capacity as experts on various television, news, radio, or other media. These appearances do not constitute endorsement of any products, companies, or services discussed unless otherwise noted.
Other Employment
Full-time employees of Racked may not be otherwise employed by or receive compensation from stores and companies that they are likely to cover as part of their news beat, nor are they permitted to have any advisory role (paid or unpaid) at those companies. Part-time employees and consultants may be employed by stores and companies that may be covered by Racked during their employment or consulting for Racked, but any relationship will be disclosed on the site should such employee cover a story or company she works for and/or the part-time employee or consultant will recuse themselves from covering a store or business they are employed with if we believe a conflict is in place.
Giveaways
From time to time, Racked will conduct contests and giveaways for our readers across various platforms. We will post rules for each contest and giveaway, which will be binding on contestants who decide to participate. While giveaways or contests may be sponsored by an advertiser or partner, they are not, and should never be considered, endorsements of the entities involved or their products.