Rest of World will ensure that the decisions about any transaction, contract, or arrangement are made solely in the interest of promoting the publication’s journalistic mission and do not benefit the private interests of Rest of World staff or representatives. Additionally, Rest of World does not and will not endorse donors or their products, services, and opinions in exchange for financial support.
Conflict of Interest
Rest of World staff and representatives will disclose the following matters promptly to the publication’s leadership.
- Any real or apparent conflict of interest (such as a financial interest) between a donor and the subject of a proposed Rest of World story; or between a proposed Rest of World story and a Rest of World representative or staff member
- A Rest of World staff member’s ownership of a direct equity interest in an entity that is or will be the subject of a Rest of World story
- Upon discovery, any failure to disclose prior to publication all relationships between the subject of a Rest of World story and any member of Rest of World staff
Editorial independence
Rest of World accepts grants, sponsorships, and gifts from individuals, organizations, and foundations to support our general operations, expand our core coverage areas, and bring our journalism offering to new formats and platforms. We may also occasionally receive funds from government-funded programs offered to nonprofit organizations. These sources of financial support will not influence editorial coverage. We do not give our funders the right to assign, review or edit our editorial work.
All donations and sources of revenue greater than US$5,000 will be made public on our site. We do not accept charitable donations from anonymous sources, direct contributions from governments, political parties, elected officials, or election campaigns. We do not accept donations from sources that present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our editorial independence.
Acceptance of gifts
Rest of World staff and representatives shall not accept personal gifts or favors that could compromise their loyalty to the publication or appear to raise conflict with the editorial mission of the publication. If any gifts are accepted, those should be merely incidental to their role at Rest of World and should not be of substantial value — defined as any gift with a value of $100, or gifts from a singular source within a 12-month period whose cumulative value is above $100. Exceptions are made for moderating and speaking engagement fees at a journalism or industry event that does not pose a conflict of interest. Rest of World employees shall not accept cash payments and any gifts that have strings attached to them.
Travel & accommodation sponsorship
As a nonprofit publication, Rest of World will, from time to time, accept sponsorship of its staff’s travel and accommodation for various national and international conferences. However, prior to the acceptance of such offers, Rest of World staff will receive approval from editorial and operations leadership. Rest of World will ensure there is neither any favorable coverage nor the censoring of any coverage during the program or in the future being committed to as part of the offer.