WSJ establishes new returns policy

Neal Lipschutz, who is editor of ethics, overseeing ethics and standards for The Wall Street Journal and all of Dow Jone, sent out the following on Thursday:

Here’s a returns policy we want to establish starting now for merchandise we receive to use in our journalism. I understand that following these principles will require additional administrative time and effort, but it is crucially important In order to maintain our high standards. Thank you in advance. Neal

We observe the following principles regarding the receipt of goods intended to be used in our journalism:

— Unsolicited goods: We return or refuse to accept all unsolicited goods. Unsolicited goods should be unopened and returned to the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or press agent from which they were received.

— Solicited goods: From time to time, we may request a review copy of a product for use in our journalism. Once our work with that product is complete, we should return the item to the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or press agent from which it was received. We should return the item even if it has been open or used and even if the person or entity who sent the item to us has asked that we not return it.

This policy applies to all goods, including clothing, jewelry, gadgets, alcohol, and toys. The receipt and return of all items should be catalogued by the department to which they are sent.

— Exceptions: The only exceptions to this policy are beauty items removed from their original packaging, opened food and beverage items, and books. Opened beauty products (including makeup, cosmetics, and hand creams) can instead be sold to Dow Jones employees in tag sales held quarterly (Brekke Fletcher on the magazine is organizing). The full proceeds of those sales should be donated to a non-partisan charity. Open food and beverage items should be discarded once our work with them is complete. Unsolicited books and manuscripts do not have to be returned.