We talk a lot internally at Stacker about prioritizing the needs of the publishers in our network. “Publisher First” is one of the company’s core values. It informs many aspects of our business, from guiding Brand content partners toward the types of stories most likely to engage a wide readership to bringing in new nonprofit newsrooms to further expand our editorial offerings.

But serving publisher needs is also fundamentally about maintaining high editorial standards for Stacker syndicated content, so that media outlets sourcing from our wire can feel confident our curated mix of stories will inform, educate and entertain their readers and comfortably sit alongside their own reporting.

When I say curated, that means we don’t hesitate to reject or ask for revisions on stories that don’t meet our guidelines.

The foundation of our editorial standards

We strive for accuracy, data transparency, fairness, completeness and offerings that are relevant and accessible to a diverse audience. Those news values help serve the best interests of publishers, readers and the content producers we distribute. We are always mindful, as are Stacker’s brand customers, that the stories we distribute must earn publisher pickup.

When we tell brands that their stories need adjustments, it’s not without reason. Rather, it’s because we have an intimate understanding of what our publisher partners want, and helping our brand customers get there is what helps them get the most out of their work with Stacker.

In my nearly two years editing the Stacker Connect wire, we have updated our core editorial standards on an as-needed basis. We’ve also added an in-depth FAQ detailing best reporting practices for brands, on topics ranging from removing promotional elements to the optimal advance timing of holiday stories to meet publisher needs.

Elevating our standards in 2026

For 2026, we are further elevating our editorial standards game by committing to quarterly updates to enhance and expand those standards. In Q1, we are focusing on refreshing, clarifying and expanding our data reporting standards, which already include strong guidelines for data collection and increased transparency.

That last part is key.

When data-driven stories show their work–including by explaining survey methodology in detail and clearly citing third-party and proprietary data sources–they give publishers and readers alike a chance to fairly evaluate the quality of the reporting.

• Who was the polling partner?

• How fresh is the data?

• How detailed was the analysis?

We are making data the main focus of this first quarterly standards update because data reporting is in Stacker’s DNA. The original stories produced by Stacker’s newsroom and syndicated to large partners such as MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL established us as a company serious about quality reporting well before the Connect product was born.

All that said, we and our partners get it wrong sometimes, just like any other news organization.

Though, our commitment to correcting any errors in as transparent a way as possible has never wavered, and our network of publishers, and their readers, should expect nothing less.