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Sentinel General Standards for Advertising

To protect the interest of its readers and advertisers,The Sentinel has established these basic principles or general standards for advertising. These standards also serve to maintain reader confidence in the medium and in the advertising which it carries: advertising is not acceptable which tends, in the opinion of this newspaper, to destroy the confidence of readers or advertisers. This includes advertising that is misleading, inaccurate, fraudulent, deceptive, or ambiguous.

The Sentinel reserves the right to reject advertising that makes misleading claims or uses art or words that impugn or degrade sex, sexual orientation, race, national origin, creed, color, disability, or age.

The Sentinel reserves the right to reject advertising that promotes illegal activity or activity detrimental or damaging to the University and its educational mission. It further reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems objectionable due to subject matter, illustration, phraseology or set-up.

The Sentinel supports the Better Business Bureau's Code of Advertising. All advertisers are subject to review by the Better Business Bureau. Advertisers in The Sentinel agree that they will not represent themselves in any way as being endorsed by the Kennesaw State University or The Sentinel.

Advertiser agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Kennesaw State University, its Board of Regents, and its officers, agents and employees from and against any and all loss, cost and expense, including reasonable attorney fees resulting from the publication by The Sentinel of advertiser's advertisement.

BUSINESS POLICIES:

  • Commercial billing is subject to prior credit approval. All other advertising must be prepaid.
  • Advertisers with an excellent credit history may apply to be billed after establishing a record of consistent advertising with The Sentinel. Credit is approved at their discretion based on the advertiser's performance history with The Sentinel. The Advisor has final authority on all financial, credit and business issues.
  • Contracts are for the current fiscal year and cannot be extended past the current publication schedule. In cases of multiple requests for placement, such requests will be reviewed by the Advertising Manager. The Sentinel will not guarantee positioning or placement under any circumstances, but will honor requests when possible.
  • Political, bar, out-of-state and transient advertisers are not eligible for credit.

PRODUCTION POLICIES:

  • Composition and artwork produced by The Sentinel become the property of The Sentinel and may be used only with permission.
  • Depths of advertisements increase in one-half inch increments.
  • Widths of advertisements increase in one column increments.
  • Advertisements may not be printed upside down or sideways without approval.
  • The number of inserts in any issue is limited to two, unless approved by the Advertising Manager.
  • The Sentinel will not guarantee positioning under any circumstances, but will honor requests when possible.
  • Advertisements having the appearance of editorial material will be identified as "Paid Advertisement."
  • Borders may be placed around ads submitted without them.
  • Advertisements may not "float" more than 1/2" in any direction.
  • Ads may be enlarged to fit purchased space. Advertisements 11 inches in depth or more will be charged for the full 12.5 inch depth.
  • Ads may be submitted as small as one column by one inch.
  • Extra cost incurred during production will be charged to the advertiser.
  • Irregular shaped advertisements are subject to approval by the Production Manager.

ACCEPTANCE POLICIES:

Abortion and Birth Control Advertising of birth control products, contraceptives, abortion clinics and related services is acceptable. The Sentinel reserves the right to accept or reject advertising of legal products and services.

Adoption Advertisements by private individuals for adoption are not accepted.

Alcohol Advertising of beer and wine is acceptable but must conform with Georgia law and The Kennesaw State University Alcohol Policy and Guidelines. Advertising of alcohol should avoid demeaning sexual or discriminatory portrayals and not encourage high-risk consumption nor place emphasis on quantity nor frequency of use. Alcohol should not be the only or central theme of an advertisement. Use of brand names and prices are discouraged. All advertisements of alcohol must contain reference to enforcement of the Georgia state drinking age.

Classified The Sentinel reserves the right to withhold publication of any advertisement that does not conform to its policies and assumes no responsibility for ads accidentally omitted. The Sentinel also reserves the right to edit and determine the proper classification for all advertisements.
All advertisers must employ without regard to race, sex, age, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or country of origin in accordance with the law.

Credit or Financing The Truth In Lending Act and Regulation Z affects advertising offering credit, installment payments and financing. Standards concerning acceptability are:

Credit and credit card advertisements must clearly and conspicuously disclose all credit terms in the advertisement (annual percentage rate, finance charges, etc.,.),as required by the above laws.

The advertisement must state whether the company processes card applications or is a credit card issuer, and if an advance fee is required.

"Secured" or "Collateral" credit card account advertisements are not acceptable.

Third party financial aid packages advertisements are not acceptable.

Dating Services Advertising from institutions or organizations known as computer match making or companionship services, computer dating, friendship groups, or marriage clinics, is unacceptable.

Discrimination The Sentinel will not accept ads that are discriminatory in nature against any sex, race, color, creed, or religious background. We will not state or imply "man preferred" or "Woman preferred" in an employment ad as this is in violation of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act, amended in 1972.

Employment Advertising All Help Wanted ads should state the method of pay (i.e., commission, guarantee, draw, bonus, fee, or other method). Further standards concerning acceptability are:

Help Wanted advertisements requiring an investment may not run in the classified "Help Wanted " columns. Job Offers which require a payment or fee in advance (sales kit, etc.,.) must state so in the advertisement's copy.

All sales ads must indicate that the work is sales. Compensation must be stated (salary, commission,etc..,.).

Advertising offers requiring the reader to call or apply at a hotel or motel are acceptable only after permission is obtained in writing from the hotel/motel manager to print the name, address or phone number in the ad.

Advertising offering employment outside the continental limits of the United States must state the sponsor and terms within the advertisement.

Foreign Language Advertisements with copy in languages other than English must carry the English translation within the advertisement. The English translation must be verified with the Advertising Office prior to placement.

"Home Work" Offers Advertisements offering employment opportunities in and from home are not acceptable.

Mail Order All mail-order advertising must provide sample proof of product prior to publication. The Sentinel does not accept advertising which, in its judgment, inaccurately describes the item offered. Under no circumstances may money be sent to a Post Office Box number. It must be sent to a verifiable street address. The Sentinel investigates complaints from their readers. Whenever such complaints appear to be justified, The Sentinel reserves the right to refuse all subsequent advertising from the advertiser.

Modeling Advertisements offering modeling work and/or requesting photographs are not acceptable.

900 Toll Numbers are not acceptable.

Personals All ads of a personal/non-commercial nature must be placed at The Sentinel office. Advertisers must present proper identification when placing ads of a personal nature. No ads of a personal nature will be accepted through the mail. No telephone numbers, addresses or last names can be used in ads of a personal nature.

Political Advertisements Political ads are accepted on a prepay basis only. Ads must carry the name and address of the advertiser. The words "Paid Political Advertisement" must appear prominently within the ad.

Rentals To Share Advertisements should state the sex of the advertiser in the ad. Advertisers may identify themselves as to race, religion, color, or national origin, but may not qualify their customers in such a way.

Term Papers Advertisements for services offering term papers, research papers, or research services are unacceptable.

Trade-outs Trade-outs are advertising space given in exchange, in whole or part, for something of value other than money (e.g., airline tickets, movie passes, etc.). Contact the student media advertising manager at advertising@ksumedia.com for more information.

The Sentinel reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems objectionable due to subject matter, illustration, phraseology or set-up. Policies may change due to programmatic or editorial decisions.