diff --git a/lib/attribution.py b/lib/attribution.py
index 664c39c..68e69eb 100644
--- a/lib/attribution.py
+++ b/lib/attribution.py
@@ -108,6 +108,33 @@ def classify_kind(handle: str) -> str:
     return "person"
 
 
+def is_publisher_handle(handle: str, conn) -> int | None:
+    """Return publisher.id if the handle exists as a publisher name, else None.
+
+    Schema v26 split orgs/citations into the publishers table. Writer code
+    (upsert_contributor, insert_contribution_event) calls this to gate creating
+    contributor rows or events for handles that belong to publishers.
+
+    Without this gate, every merged PR with `sourcer: cnbc` (for example) would
+    re-create CNBC as a contributor and undo the v26 classifier cleanup.
+
+    Falls back gracefully on pre-v26 DBs: returns None if publishers table
+    doesn't exist yet (writer behaves like before, no regression).
+    """
+    if not handle or conn is None:
+        return None
+    h = handle.strip().lower().lstrip("@")
+    try:
+        row = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT id FROM publishers WHERE name = ?", (h,),
+        ).fetchone()
+        if row:
+            return row["id"] if hasattr(row, "keys") else row[0]
+    except Exception:
+        logger.debug("is_publisher_handle: lookup failed for %r", h, exc_info=True)
+    return None
+
+
 # ─── Parse attribution from claim content ──────────────────────────────────
 
 
diff --git a/lib/contributor.py b/lib/contributor.py
index a2117d6..b2cc11d 100644
--- a/lib/contributor.py
+++ b/lib/contributor.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import logging
 import re
 
 from . import config, db
-from .attribution import AGENT_BRANCH_PREFIXES, classify_kind, normalize_handle
+from .attribution import AGENT_BRANCH_PREFIXES, classify_kind, is_publisher_handle, normalize_handle
 from .forgejo import get_pr_diff
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("pipeline.contributor")
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ def insert_contribution_event(
     canonical = normalize_handle(handle, conn=conn)
     if not canonical:
         return False
+    # Schema v26 gate: handles classified as publishers (CNBC, SpaceNews, arxiv,
+    # etc.) are provenance metadata, not contributors. Don't credit them. Without
+    # this gate every merge re-creates org events and undoes the v26 cleanup.
+    if is_publisher_handle(canonical, conn) is not None:
+        logger.debug("insert_contribution_event: %r is a publisher — skipping event", canonical)
+        return False
     kind = classify_kind(canonical)
     try:
         cur = conn.execute(
@@ -419,6 +425,14 @@ def upsert_contributor(
         logger.warning("Unknown contributor role: %s", role)
         return
 
+    # Schema v26 gate: orgs/citations live in publishers table, not contributors.
+    # Skip without writing so the v26 classifier cleanup isn't undone by every
+    # merge that has `sourcer: cnbc` (or similar) in claim frontmatter.
+    canonical_handle = handle.strip().lower().lstrip("@") if handle else ""
+    if canonical_handle and is_publisher_handle(canonical_handle, conn) is not None:
+        logger.debug("upsert_contributor: %r is a publisher — skipping contributor row", canonical_handle)
+        return
+
     existing = conn.execute(
         "SELECT handle FROM contributors WHERE handle = ?", (handle,)
     ).fetchone()