Advertising Standards

INTO RWANDA is read by diplomats, investors, international institutions and the Rwandan diaspora because they trust our reporting. Advertising pays for that reporting, and these standards make sure it never weakens it. They apply to every banner, sponsored story, newsletter sponsorship and partnership we sell.

Our reporting is never for sale

• Advertisers and sponsors never see, review or approve a story before it is published, and have no say over what we report, including stories about themselves.
• Advertising and editorial are run by different people. Those who sell advertising do not edit stories about the clients they work with.
• An advertiser who appears in the news is reported on exactly as anyone else would be. Errors are corrected openly under our Corrections policy, whoever they concern.

Everything paid for is labelled

• Every banner is marked Advertisement.
• Every paid story is marked Sponsored by, followed by the partner's name, on the story itself and on every link to it across the site. Sponsored stories are written outside our newsroom and are never presented as our reporting.
• Section and newsletter partnerships are shown as In partnership with, followed by the partner's name. A partner's name never appears inside a news story because of the partnership.

What we do not accept

• Gambling and betting.
• Financial products from firms not licensed by the National Bank of Rwanda, the Capital Market Authority or an equivalent regulator, and get-rich-quick or unregulated investment schemes.
• Health products or treatments that make claims not approved by the relevant authority.
• Tobacco, adult content, weapons, and anything illegal in Rwanda.
• Advertising designed to look like our journalism, or that misleads readers about who is speaking.
• Advertising that attacks or demeans any group of people.

We may decline any advertisement or partnership that does not fit these standards or our audience, without giving reasons. Rules set by Google apply in addition to these where Google's advertising is shown.

Political advertising

Our reporting on political parties, candidates and elections is never restricted by these standards. We accept advertising from political parties and candidates only on these terms: each advertisement names who paid for it, in the words Paid for by, followed by the party or candidate; every party and candidate is offered the same prices, positions and terms; the editor-in-chief approves each one in advance; political advertisements never appear beside our political reporting; and during official election campaigns we follow the rules of the National Electoral Commission and the Rwanda Media Commission.

How advertising appears

• Standard sizes only, in spaces reserved before the page loads, so nothing moves or covers the news.
• No pop-ups, nothing that plays sound by itself, and nothing that flashes.
• The space beside our logo and the first banners on the homepage are offered only to named partners, never to automated advertising.
• We may ask for changes to a banner that is unclear, of poor quality or hard to read, and can design one to our standards on request.

Questions and complaints

If you think an advertisement or sponsored story breaks these standards, or is not clearly labelled, write to info@intorwanda.com. We answer every complaint, and remove or relabel anything that falls short. To advertise, see Advertise with INTO RWANDA.