These guidelines describe how Anime Corner News reports, what companies, organizers, and PR representatives can expect when working with us, and the standards readers can hold us to. They apply to everything we publish.

Last updated: September 2026.

1. Our Commitment

Coverage decisions are made by our editorial team alone. No company, sponsor, or individual can buy favorable editorial coverage, or approve or veto independent editorial coverage.
Receiving press releases, review copies, screeners, event access, or interview opportunities never creates an obligation to cover something, or to cover it favorably.
News reporting is neutral and factual. Enthusiasm and evaluation appear only in clearly labeled reviews and opinion articles, where they represent the view of the credited writer.
Promotional language from press materials is not carried into our news voice, and verifiable claims from those materials are attributed to their source.

2. Sourcing and Accuracy

We use primary sources wherever available and authoritative secondary sources where necessary: rights holders, studios, publishers, licensed distributors, direct interviews, and established trade press.
We do not publish leaked material. Outside rare exceptions approved by the Editor-in-Chief and independently corroborated, we do not run stories sourced to unnamed individuals.
Where information originates in Japanese, we work from the original source wherever possible.
Every article carries the byline of its writer, who is accountable for its accuracy.

3. Corrections and Updates

Major corrections are published, not made quietly. A dated note at the bottom of the article will specify what was wrong and what is correct.
Where a correction changes the substance of a story, the headline and any related social posts are corrected as well.
Developing stories are updated under a clearly labeled Update note with the date, and original content is not silently replaced.
Anyone can report an error through our contact page. Reports from readers and external parties are handled exactly as internally flagged errors are.
Where a factual or permissions problem cannot be resolved quickly, we can temporarily unlist an article while it is sorted out. The article is restored, corrected, or amended by agreement, normally within 24 hours, and longer only where confirmation or translation genuinely takes more time.
We do not delete published articles at anyone’s request, and disagreement with our coverage is not grounds for unlisting.

4. Interviews

Interviews are recorded with the subject’s permission, or documented in detailed notes where recording is declined.
Quotes are shared faithfully. Minor verbal fillers may be removed where meaning and tone are unchanged, clarifying insertions appear in square brackets, cuts are marked with ellipses, and interviews tidied for transcription or translation are noted as lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interviews conducted through an interpreter say so in the article.
Interview subjects and their representatives are welcome to check the article for accuracy before publication. We share a preview of the piece as it will run, together with the planned publication date.
The check covers factual and translation accuracy: that quotes are attributed correctly and translations reflect what was said, and that names, titles, dates, and technical details are right. We allow 3 business days for concerns to be raised, and longer where translation is involved, since replies often pass through a translator. No response within the agreed window is taken as no objection.
A guest’s team may review and approve the proposed question list before an interview takes place. That approval covers the interview agenda only and does not extend to the resulting article.
What we cannot offer is editorial control: changes to opinion, framing, conclusions, or what the article covers. This applies to everyone equally, and it is what keeps our coverage credible.

5. Press Access and Event Coverage

Coverage of public events and publicly available material is published at our sole editorial discretion. Requests to review, amend, or approve such coverage are not accommodated.
When we attend under press access, coverage remains at our editorial discretion. Factual inaccuracies may be raised with us after publication and will be assessed on their merits; raising a concern does not guarantee a change.
Our on-site teams follow the access terms and photography rules set by the organizer. Photographs supplied by an organizer are credited as supplied.
Where we take on a media partnership, we hold partners to the same standards we hold ourselves: no bootleg or counterfeit goods, no profiting from pirated content, no using artwork without the artist’s permission, and no passing AI-generated work off as human-made. Coverage created under a partnership says so.

6. Embargoes and Advance Content

We honor embargo dates communicated at the time access or materials are granted. Non-embargoed coverage may be published immediately; embargoed content is held until the embargo lifts.
Organizers and companies are responsible for clearly identifying embargoed or spoiler content at the time access is granted. Content not flagged at that point is treated as publishable.
Embargo or spoiler terms communicated after access has been granted are not binding on us.
Any binding terms ACN has signed or expressly accepted, including NDAs, accreditation terms, and access agreements, are honored in full.
Information the providing party announces publicly themselves is no longer under embargo. Once an organizer or company reveals something on stage or on their own channels, we may cover that information immediately, even if the stated embargo time has not passed, using only officially available assets. No embargoed assets are used before the embargoed time expires.
Another outlet breaking an embargo does not release us from it. We do not follow the break, and will return to the source for revised terms where appropriate.

7. Review Copies, Screeners, and Products

We accept review copies, screeners, and products for coverage consideration.
Any article based on a provided product, screener, or covered travel carries a disclosure stating so.
Opinions are not for sale. Providing materials does not guarantee coverage, and never guarantees favorable coverage.

8. Sponsored Content and Affiliate Links

Sponsored articles are commissioned commercially and kept visibly separate from editorial coverage. Every sponsored article carries the sponsored category mark at the top and a disclosure at the end, and any social post promoting it is labeled as well.
Sponsors may supply information and confirm factual accuracy about their own products. They have no control over conclusions, opinion, or the final article.
A review can be commissioned, but its conclusion cannot. We assign the writer, the verdict is theirs, and the piece runs as written whatever it says.
Our writers are never paid by the companies they cover. Any commercial arrangement is with Anime Corner, not with an individual writer, and writers do not cover companies they work for elsewhere.
Articles containing affiliate links carry a clear disclosure.
Coverage of products, merchandise, and releases is editorial unless it carries a sponsored label. Being sent a press release, a sample, or a review copy never buys coverage or favorable treatment.

9. AI

Our articles are written by people. The writer named in the byline is accountable for every line published under it.
AI is not used to write articles.
Coverage of material a writer has not actually watched or read is prohibited outright.
Reporting that a third party used AI is made only on the basis of official statements, published credits, or direct confirmation, and describes precisely what was stated.

10. Sensitive Content

Articles dealing substantially with suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, or similar themes carry a warning, describe how a work treats its subject without reproducing harmful detail, and close with a note that support is available.
We use authorized imagery, official assets and our own original photography, credited with copyright notices, and we do not publish explicit content.

11. Guest Contributions and News Tips

We welcome news tips and one-off guest pieces from readers and writers outside our team. Send them to the news address below.
An editor reads every submission and replies. Accepted pieces are edited to our standards and published with your name credited at the end of the article.
Where a piece is accepted, payment is agreed with you before publication. Rates depend on the piece, and we are happy to discuss them.
We do not run promotional or marketing pieces as guest contributions. Commercial arrangements go through our advertising team instead.
Our editorial guidelines apply to guest pieces in full, including sourcing, disclosure, and corrections.

12. Working With Us

Press releases and announcements: [email protected]
Press access, interviews, and event invitations: [email protected]
Sponsorship and partnership invitations: [email protected]
Corrections and factual concerns: [email protected]

About these guidelines. This page reflects our current editorial standards and is updated as they evolve. The date above changes with every revision.