techjaja.com’s ethical rules of thumb
The editorial team of techjaja has determined the following statement of ethics which all frequent writers and freelancers agree to abide by.
WE DON’T SELL ELECTRONICS
We do not sell electronics or any other products. In fact, we don’t currently sell anything (we may someday sell or give away some branded t-shirts or something, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it).
ADVERTISING
We have advertisers on our site, and they are our main source of revenue. We do not accept money or other consideration from companies as a condition or incentive to write a review or story, whether favorable or unfavorable, at techjaja. All reviews and other editorial on techjaja are based on our editorial discretion, and not based on the desire of any company, advertiser or PR firm. Our editorial staff may not interact with the sales or marketing teams of companies or advertisers that offer products that may be reviewed by us. Advertisers don’t ask us to cover their products, and we don’t comment about their ads. Our policies do not permit placements of advertorial on techjaja. Any feature or area on techjaja sponsored by a particular company or advertiser is developed independently by editorial any sales partner or client. We will endeavor to clearly mark any advertisement or “infomercial” (videos, Flash animations, etc.) shown on techjaja as an advertisement.
WHERE DO WE GET OUR CONTENT FROM
Techjaja 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 without exception. Please note that our general policy is that we do not provide compensation for tips.
CONDUCT
We don’t take free things from companies, or from their PR firms. This rule is simple and we stick to it, but we’ll illustrate it a bit further.
We do not take free or discounted merchandise, whether it’s a UGX 2,000,000 phone or a UGX 10,000 thumb drive. Any merchandise or gifts handed out to us at events or other industry gatherings (commonly referred to as “swag”) is given away on the site to our readers, because we’re nice people, but also because we simply do not keep free gear.
We do not accept meals or gifts from companies or their PR representatives.
See the section on review units below for more on this topic.
SAMPLES FOR REVIEW / REVIEW UNITS
Tech Companies and Gadget sellers may loan units, products or samples to our editors for a given period of time in order for our editors to review such samples and determine whether we will provide a review of the product on techjaja. We do not accept any samples on any preconditions, such as, that we will agree to provide a review simply because the company sent us a sample. Please note that companies may provide these samples before the product is commercially available, in which case, we may agree to an embargo with the company or its PR firm. This means we agree not to publish the review until a given time. Most of the time (as in the case of laptops, or phones for example) the review units are returned promptly within a 2 week period.
Occasionally, an editor will retain a product beyond the stipulated review period (agreed upon by the editor and company or its PR representatives) for extended reviews. This is most often the case with cellphones, which are updated often. Our policy is that the review unit may not be used as a personal device of a techjaja writer , except during the pre-determined review period.
Occasionally, we decide to review something which has not been provided to us by a company. In this case, an editor will either purchase the product for themselves (we buy a lot of gear), techjaja will purchase the product for the team.
INVESTING
We do not invest in companies that we cover, and writters at techjaja are forbidden from owning, trading, or buying stock in companies we cover or companies in the general tech sector, without exception.
PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCES
Our editors and news writers if 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.
OTHER EMPLOYMENT
In general, writers and editors of techjaja are not allowed to conduct journalism for other publications without express permission of the Editor-in-Chief, and are, in all professional capacities, still subject to these same guidelines when acting in any other professional capacity.
GIVEAWAYS TO READERS
From time to time, techjaja will conduct contests and giveaways for readers on the site. We will post rules for each contest, which will be binding on contestants who decide to participate. Giveaways of products are not, and should never be considered, endorsements of the companies involved or their products.
PERSONAL CONFLICT
Any techjaja writer who has a spouse, partner, or other close relationship with an employee of a company which techjaja covers will disclose the relationship in their personal bio on the site. Furthermore, the employee or contributor may not cover that company or its products on techjaja.
CELEBS
Techjaja does not permit use of celebrity endorsements or testimonials, although celebrities may be mentioned or interviewed if they are bona fide users of a product.
EDITORIALS AND FEATURED OPINIONS
Our editorial and featured content is written by individuals, and each article represents the opinion or view of the individual writers. Any opinion expressed in content that appears on techjaja is the opinion of the writer – whether an editor, staff member, or other contributor, and should not be construed as an opinion formally approved or endorsed by techjaja .
These are guidelines and principles we follow by choice, and have determined as a group to abide by, because we think they are the best way to conduct our business. If you have further questions about our ethics or business practices, you should email us at editor@techjaja.com
