Field & Stream Editorial Standards

Our Mission to You, Our Readers

• To inspire you to get outside through storytelling—in print, online, and around campfires.

• To guide you on your adventurers, and teach you the skills you need to survive and thrive in the outdoors.

• To help them fight for the conservation and protection of wildlife and wild places.

• To preserve and pass down the heritage, legacy, and culture of our sporting traditions

Editorial Independence

Editorial independence drives everything we do. Our platforms are built on a foundation of audience trust. Consequently, editorial decisions are made free of interference from anyone outside editorial and content management. Our editors, writers, video producers, content leads, and social-media managers have explicit control over our content. Any other employees, such as those in product, HR, advertising, business development, or senior stakeholders, such as company owners and investors, cannot mandate—through either direct conversation or other influence—the content we publish. Advertisers, direct or otherwise, have no sway over editorial content. We work to adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.

Transparency, Disclosures, and Conflicts of Interest

We act in our readers’ and viewers’ best interests above all else; operate transparently with our methods; avoid conflicts of interest and disclose business relationships; and make sure our audiences know exactly what they’re getting from us. Our teams are required to be clear about any relationships we have that might appear to influence our coverage. No staff member shall have financial interests in an area they cover, including shares in a company relevant to their subject matter. We will disclose when we attend junkets or trips paid for by companies we cover. We will operate with the understanding that these things are a means to an end to better serve our audiences, and we will not allow them to sway our coverage. Products we test should be used for content creation purposes only, and as much as we are able, we should return them to their manufacturers or donate them. Staff members and regular contributors are forbidden from accepting outside employment, compensation, or gifts from entities in their areas of coverage. If we earn a commission through one of our product review links, we will disclose this. Our product reviews and recommendations are solely guided by our expertise, research, and experience; any “sponsored reviews” or deals will be clearly marked as such, and are not handled by our editorial teams. Furthermore, any branded or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.

Accuracy & Accountability

Our editors are committed to delivering the most accurate and up-to-date news, features, analysis, and recommendations possible to our audiences. Every story we publish—from the quickest blog to the most in-depth feature—passes through at least one editor, who’s responsible for ensuring the quality and accuracy of the content. In some instances, an independent fact-checker will verify all of the statements in the story. We also show our work. Whenever we make a statement, cite a statistic, republish a quote, or otherwise tap an outside source for information, we will name it and, whenever possible, link back to the original source. Our journalists are responsible for verifying the quality and trustworthiness of the sources that appear in our stories. We recognize that errors do happen—and we take them seriously. When a reader or source raises an issue with a story we’ve published, an editor will re-check the proposed change against our sourcing, consult additional resources as needed, and determine if it’s necessary to issue a correction. If a correction is warranted, we’ll update the relevant passages in the text and insert a note disclosing the error in the story itself. We will never “ghost edit” a story by making a correction without disclosing it.