The Almighty Code

Above all else, respect others. Address issues and arguments and refrain from making personal attacks. If you see something disrespectful or inappropriate, report it - rather than further inflaming the situation.

Adding a personal attack to an otherwise valuable comment or article serves only to render that contribution invalid in its entirety. Such content is subject to moderation.

Harassment and/or intimidation of others on Newsvine will not be tolerated, and patterns of such behavior may result in account cancelation. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to demonstrate to any of the moderators that anyone who is in the ranks of accepted Newsviners is not behaving according to this rule.

Newsvine's primary purpose is to provide a place for people to share and discuss topics relating to the news. Self-promotion, seeding links to your own site(s), and advertising are not allowed.
Posting full articles (using the "Write Article" feature) that also appear on your blog or web site is acceptable but seeding your own stuff is not.

Do not seed links to any sites you're affiliated with.

Posting links to drive traffic elsewhere for personal or financial gain is prohibited.

Headlines should be supported by the information presented in the article/seed, rather than used primarily as a means to draw attention. This rule has become a perverse prohibition against any headline that might be too effective and well written. Chosen news types and tags should be accurate and informative - not used to provoke or make a statement. The charge of 'tag abuse' is difficult to deny and is used as a harrasment. I was recently hounded over posting a poem under the politics tag since that made it available to the front page. It prompted a lengthy argument with the prominent Newsvine member and myself over the distinction of politics and where it could be used as a descriptive term for writing. I wrote essays on the subject that this person commented on to defend his own position which he called me a liar for attempting to write about.

The ability to categorize content, including clipping, is a privilege that carries with it a responsibility. Inappropriate or malicious use of news types, tags and clipping is prohibited.
Until additional News Types are supported, indicate the nature of your article/seed in the headline, when appropriate, following the form: "[Type]: [Headline]". This standard applies to the following non-exhaustive list of News Types: Satire, Rumor, Poetry, Comic/Illustration, Review

As the host of your column, you are expected to foster healthy, open discussions by setting a good example. Be responsible for the content you submit and exercise impartiality when deleting comments and reporting abuse.

Plagiarism and copyright infringement will not be tolerated. If you did not write something, do not portray it as your own (use the "blockquote" tag and cite your source by linking to the original content). If you do not have the right to republish the content in question, do not post it to Newsvine.

If a comment contains a personal attack or other gross Code of Honor or User Agreement violation, it may be deleted - regardless of the quality or nature of the rest of the comment. Users are welcome to re-post moderated comments without the offending portion(s).
Do not delete comments based on disagreement; remove only comments that grossly violate the Code of Honor or the User Agreement. There is a columnist on Newsvine with a high level of acceptance by the company referred to as someone who is very reliable in reporting abuse to the moderators who automatically deleted every comment I tried to make to his articles he seeded.

Comments that are grossly off-topic may be deleted. If the majority of the comment is on-topic, then the comment may not be deleted for being off-topic.
Acts that run contrary to the spirit and purpose of Newsvine, including attempts to circumvent the Code of Honor are not allowed.

A user's participation at Newsvine is judged as a whole. Recurring counterproductive behavior or negative contributions - even if not specifically addressed in the Code of Honor or the User Agreement - may still warrant removal of that person from the Newsvine Community.

So that's the Code!