Editorial Standards & Content Safety Policy

Purpose: Healthy Mind by Avik™ is a mental wellness platform and podcast network. Our content must be emotionally safe, respectful, and responsible. We aim for honest human conversation not diagnosis, not sensationalism, and not quick-fix promises.

Applies to: All intern/employee hosts and anyone involved in content planning, recording, editing notes, clips, or publishing.

11.1 Core Standard (Brand Safety Principle)

We hold space with care and dignity.
We do not diagnose, shame, label, or “fix” people.
We do not publish content that promotes harmful ideologies, misinformation, or “guaranteed results” claims.
We respect that listeners may be vulnerable; the tone must remain grounded, non-judgmental, and non-clinical.

11.2 Non-Negotiables (Mandatory Rules)

A) Originality / Plagiarism

No plagiarism. Interns must not copy/paste scripts, episode structures, prompts, or questions from other podcasts, books, websites, or creators.
If any external inspiration is used (public articles, books, studies), it must be reframed in original language and any quoted facts/statements must be credited in internal notes.
Copying another creator’s format or “signature segment” without approval is prohibited.

B) Fact-Checking

Any factual claims, stats, or quotes included in show notes, captions, or episode descriptions must be verified using credible sources.
Avoid “viral” stats without a reliable source.
If a guest shares a claim that is clearly incorrect or risky, the host must flag it for review before publishing.

C) No Medical/Clinical Advice

Hosts must not present medical, psychiatric, or clinical advice as truth.
Hosts must not recommend treatment plans, medication guidance, or claim outcomes such as “this will cure anxiety/trauma/depression.”
When health topics arise, keep language general and experience-based, and avoid directive prescriptions.

D) No Diagnosing / Labeling

Hosts must not label guests or listeners with diagnoses (e.g., “you are bipolar,” “you have ADHD,” “you are narcissistic”).
Guests may self-identify their experiences; the host should not confirm or intensify a diagnosis.

11.3 Sensitive Topic Protocol (Mandatory Escalation)

If a conversation includes any of the following, the host must treat it as sensitive:

self-harm, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts
abuse (physical/sexual/emotional), domestic violence
threats of violence, harm toward others
child abuse, exploitation
severe harm risk or illegal activity disclosures
any content that could create legal, safety, or reputational risk if published

Required steps:

Alert immediately: Notify Producer/Founder/Team Lead as soon as the recording ends (or immediately during recording if urgent).
Pause publishing: Do not post clips, show notes, audiograms, or promotional content until reviewed.
Mark and isolate: Tag the file/time-stamps and clearly mark “SENSITIVE REVIEW REQUIRED.”
No independent decisions: The host must not decide what to cut/keep when safety is involved.

11.4 Editing Integrity (No Distortion)

Editing must preserve meaning and context.
Do not create misleading narratives by cutting pauses, changing sequence, or removing qualifiers that change intent.
Do not “sensationalize” vulnerable moments for engagement.
Any heavy edit that changes structure must be reviewed by the Team Lead when in doubt.

11.5 Respect, Consent & Guest Control

Guests may request removal of a segment before publication.
Any removal request must be escalated to Team Lead/Founder immediately.
Interns must not argue with guests or deny requests independently.
If a guest requests privacy or correction, we respond respectfully and coordinate centrally.

11.6 Enforcement

Violation of this policy may result in:

re-training + written warning,
removal from guest-facing work,
pay deduction for impacted publishing/production work (as applicable),
termination for serious/repeated breaches.