In instances of egregious violations, the committee may recommend that ASME suspend the offending magazine from participation in the National Magazine Awards program. This statement was an effort to underscore the importance of editorial credibility and provide an industry standard. As editors and publishers, we strongly believe that editorial integrity and credibility are the magazine industry's most important assets. As a result, we believe that magazines should not submit table of contents, text or photos from upcoming issues to advertisers for prior review. We are confident that editors and publishers can inform advertisers about a publication's editorial environment or direction without engaging in practices that may at the very least create the appearance of censorship and ultimately could undermine editorial independence.
Magazines are successful only if readers trust the information and advice given.
That's why ASME has created guidelines to ensure the clear distinction between advertising and editorial content is never broken, nor blurred. If, for example, a reader believes that an article was created or altered to satisfy an advertiser or special interest group, that reader is likely to discount the content of the article, distrust the publication, and disregard the renewal notice. Similarly, editors have an obligation to enforce and maintain the best journalistic practices. Since no set of guidelines can possibly cover every situation that arises, we hope that all magazine editors and publishers will respect ASME's guidelines in spirit and in practice. The layout, design and type face of advertising pages should be distinctly different from the publication's normal layout, design and type faces.