Advertising Guidelines & Standards

Santanero Media Group, LLC. d.b.a. Santanero Media Group, LLC, The Santanero and KSNG-DB “Santanero Radio”

Effective July 1, 2026

1. Overview

Santanero Media Group, LLC ("Santanero Media Group," "we," "our," or "us"), including The Santanero, KSNG-DB "Santanero Radio," Santanero.org, newsletters, broadcasts, podcasts, social media accounts, and related media properties, maintains advertising standards intended to support community trust, editorial independence, transparency, legal compliance, and responsible business practices.

All advertisements, sponsorships, underwriting acknowledgments, promotional materials, and related commercial content are subject to review and approval prior to publication, distribution, broadcast, or placement.

Acceptance of advertising is a privilege, not a right.

2. Editorial Independence

Santanero Media Group maintains a strict separation between advertising and editorial operations.

Acceptance of advertising, sponsorships, underwriting, or promotional partnerships does not influence:

  • Editorial decisions;
  • News coverage;
  • Story selection;
  • Investigative reporting;
  • Corrections;
  • Publication priorities;
  • Opinion publication decisions; or
  • Editorial judgment.

Advertisers, sponsors, businesses, organizations, public officials, advocacy groups, campaigns, donors, or other outside interests may not condition advertising purchases on editorial treatment or coverage.

3. Advertising Review and Approval

All advertising submissions are subject to editorial and business review prior to acceptance.

Santanero Media Group reserves full discretion regarding:

  • Acceptance or rejection;
  • Placement;
  • Scheduling;
  • Publication timing;
  • Formatting;
  • Design requirements;
  • Distribution;
  • Suspension; and
  • Removal.

Submission of advertising materials does not guarantee approval, publication, distribution, or continued placement.

4. Sponsorship Disclosure

Sponsored content, sponsorship acknowledgments, underwriting messages, promotional partnerships, and similar commercial content may be identified through:

  • Labels;
  • Disclosures;
  • Sponsor acknowledgments;
  • Notices;
  • Captions; or
  • Other reasonable methods.

The form and placement of disclosures shall be determined by Santanero Media Group.

Advertising does not constitute endorsement by Santanero Media Group, LLC.

5. Restricted Advertising Content

Santanero Media Group generally does not accept advertisements, sponsorships, underwriting messages, or promotional content that directly or indirectly promotes, markets, depicts, or endorses:

  • Marijuana, cannabis, THC, CBD, or related products;
  • Tobacco products;
  • Nicotine products;
  • Cigarettes;
  • Cigars;
  • Vaping products;
  • Firearms;
  • Ammunition;
  • Weapons or weapon accessories;
  • Alcoholic beverages;
  • Adult-oriented products or services;
  • Pornographic content;
  • Illegal products or services;
  • Fraudulent or deceptive schemes;
  • Counterfeit goods;
  • Sponsored articles;
  • Native advertising;
  • Hate groups or extremist organizations;
  • Unlawful activities.

This restriction does not necessarily apply to legitimate news coverage, public-interest reporting, educational content, public health information, or lawful public discussion concerning such topics.

We reserve the right to determine whether submitted material is appropriate for publication and change this policy at any time.

6. Artificial Intelligence Advertising

As a matter of editorial policy, Santanero Media Group generally does not accept advertising, sponsorships, underwriting messages, promotional partnerships, or similar commercial content from companies whose primary business involves the development, marketing, licensing, sale, promotion, or distribution of artificial intelligence systems, generative artificial intelligence products, large language models, synthetic media technologies, or similar AI-powered services.

This restriction reflects our commitment to authentic journalism, human authorship, community participation, and editorial independence.

Limited exceptions may be considered for educational institutions, public-interest organizations, research initiatives, governmental entities, or community programs where the primary purpose is educational, informational, scientific, or public-service oriented rather than commercial promotion.

Acceptance of any exception remains solely at the discretion of Santanero Media Group.

7. Political Advertising and Campaign Activity

Santanero Media Group, LLC and its affiliated media properties do not endorse political candidates, campaigns, political parties, or ballot advocacy efforts.

As a matter of policy, we generally do not accept paid political campaign advertising.

We do not:

  • Accept paid campaign advertisements;
  • Receive campaign contributions;
  • Provide financial sponsorships to campaigns;
  • Pay to attend campaign events for promotional purposes;
  • Republish campaign advertisements as advertising content.

This policy is intended to preserve editorial independence and public trust.

Nothing in this section limits our ability to report on political campaigns, elections, public officials, ballot measures, government activity, or matters of public concern.

8. Sponsored Articles and Native Advertising

Santanero Media Group does not accept sponsored articles, paid news stories, native advertising, advertorials, sponsored editorials, paid guest articles, or similar arrangements that are designed to resemble independent journalism.

Editorial content, news reporting, opinion content, investigations, interviews, and community reporting are not available for purchase.

Organizations, businesses, campaigns, nonprofits, government agencies, advocacy groups, and other entities may not pay for favorable editorial treatment, publication of news articles, opinion placement, or coverage presented as independent journalism.

Nothing in this section prohibits clearly identified advertisements, sponsorship acknowledgments, underwriting messages, or other promotional content that is distinct from editorial content.

9. Community Announcements and Public Service Information

Santanero Media Group may provide limited complimentary promotion of:

  • Community events;
  • Educational initiatives;
  • Public-service information;
  • Civic engagement opportunities;
  • Nonprofit activities;
  • Cultural events; and
  • Other activities that benefit the community.

Acceptance, placement, scheduling, and presentation remain subject to editorial discretion. These community announcements may be published in our CommunityCal.

Community announcements may be edited for clarity, length, formatting, legal compliance, or consistency with our standards.

Complimentary Promotion

Complimentary promotion, public-service announcements, event listings, and community notices are provided at our discretion.

Such promotion does not create an obligation to provide future publicity, advertising, event coverage, editorial coverage, sponsorships, or continued placement.

We reserve the right to discontinue complimentary promotion programs at any time.

8. Licensed Services Disclosure

Advertisements promoting services that require professional, occupational, governmental, or regulatory licensing must include licensing information where required by law.

Advertisers remain solely responsible for compliance with:

  • Licensing requirements;
  • Disclosure requirements;
  • Advertising regulations;
  • Industry standards; and
  • Applicable laws.

We reserve the right to request documentation supporting licensing claims.

9. Advertiser Responsibility

Advertisers are responsible for ensuring that submitted materials:

  • Are truthful and accurate;
  • Comply with applicable law;
  • Do not infringe intellectual property rights;
  • Do not contain false or misleading claims;
  • Do not defame individuals or organizations;
  • Was not made with or contain artificial intelligence
  • Do not deceive consumers.

Advertisers may be required to provide documentation supporting claims contained in advertisements.

Acceptance of advertising does not constitute verification or endorsement by Santanero Media Group.

10. Digital, Newsletter, Broadcast, and Social Media Advertising

These standards apply across all Santanero Media Group media properties, including websites, newsletters, podcasts, radio broadcasts, streaming platforms, social media accounts, sponsored posts, digital publications, future media platforms.

Advertising standards remain applicable regardless of distribution method or platform.

12. Removal, Suspension, and Rejection

We reserve the right to reject, remove, suspend, modify, or discontinue advertising content at any time if we determine that the material:

  • Violates these Guidelines;
  • Violates applicable law;
  • Becomes misleading;
  • Conflicts with editorial standards;
  • Creates reputational concerns;
  • Presents public safety concerns; or
  • Is otherwise inconsistent with our mission and values.

Such decisions remain within our sole discretion.

13. Limitation of Advertising Liability

Santanero Media Group does not guarantee advertising performance, audience engagement, sales results, website traffic, lead generation, broadcast reach, subscriber actions or business outcomes.

Advertising effectiveness may vary based on numerous factors beyond our control.

14. Changes to These Guidelines

We may update, revise, modify, replace, or discontinue these Advertising Guidelines from time to time.

When changes are made, we will revise the Effective Date above.

Continued advertising purchases, sponsorship agreements, or promotional participation following publication of updated Guidelines constitutes acceptance of the revised version.

Relationship to Other Policies

This policy should be read together with our other policies published by Santanero Media Group, LLC.

Contact

Questions regarding advertising, sponsorships, underwriting opportunities, media partnerships, promotional content, or these Guidelines may be directed to:

Daniel Diaz, Santanero Media Group, LLC.
Email: sales@santanero.org