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Every individual, no matter their purpose or occupation, is responsible for something. In the school newspaper, it’s the job of the organization to teach members the responsibilities of working in the news industry, whether or not they’re aspiring journalists, budding writers, or people who want to dip their toes into reporting. Read on to find out the code of ethics in journalism, their importance, and your responsibilities as a reporter.
What is a Code of Ethics?
What is a Code of Ethics?
A code of ethics is a set guide of responsibilities for a specific group of people. They are designed to assist professionals or people conduct their business in a humane, courteous, and honest manner. They guide people through decisions, establishing what is right and what is wrong. Simply, they are a standard for people to live up to and rules that people have to follow.
What does a journalist do?
What does a journalist do?
Journalists are people who investigate and research occurring events in order to write them down and report them for the awareness of people in society. A journalist’s work is seen in the newspaper, on television, on the radio, and even on social media. They are described as the eyes and ears of the people, as their job is to inform the public. They can also choose to influence public opinion through opinion pieces or the direction of their articles.
Besides that, though, journalists are meant to inform in an honest and unbiased manner. That is their responsibility as informers of society. Imagine if newspapers were written with incredible prejudice or unproven facts. How would that world look? Would you be surprised if you were told that that world exists today?
With the rise of the Internet, anybody can be a writer, reporter, or journalist. Be it clickbait, content farms, or deliberate disinformation, honest reporting is needed now more than ever.
What are a journalist’s responsibilities?
What are a journalist’s responsibilities?
There are varying codes of ethics from place to place and list to list. But the most common principles of a journalist are honesty, accuracy, objectivity, independence, diligence, accountability, and humanity.
Honesty & Accuracy
Honesty & Accuracy
A journalist is an informer of the people. If the articles in the newspapers were based on lies or were badly sourced, what would happen to the readers? That is why it is important for journalists to research meticulously, and that they present those facts clearly without distorting them in a malicious way (ie. wording articles in a way that distort the original report).
Independence & Objectivity
Independence & Objectivity
A journalist shouldn’t write articles they would personally benefit from nor should they cloud articles with their personal beliefs. This is because their commitment is to society, and they must provide information with society’s interest in mind instead of their own. If journalists could gain something from an article or from a project, their reporting will be skewed and biased.
Furthermore, journalists should present facts with impartiality and neutrality. They should be able to present the different viewpoints on a subject without slanting facts or showing bias, and to uncover the background of an event, even in the harshest of circumstances.
Diligence & Accountability
Diligence & Accountability
A journalist should be responsible. They should be able to gather and present information with credibility and full understanding, and they should be ready to be accountable in the face of criticism and consequence. When a journalist makes a mistake, like accidentally misinforming the public, they must be willing to admit to their mistake, apologize, and fix their error.
Humanity
Humanity
Journalists should act humanely and ethically. Their reporting should minimize harm, not make it.
This means that journalists have to be sensitive to people like children or the injured when it comes to interviewing people or looking out for a new scoop. They have to respect a wish of not reporting a story, because the story could hurt the people involved. They shouldn’t curate their articles to feed into a dark, unsettling, or macabre interest of certain people. Much like the law, journalists are also encouraged to report trials and scandals with the principle of “innocent until proven guilty,” and give balanced reports to the public.
"If someone says it's raining and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the window and find out which is true."
"If someone says it's raining and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the window and find out which is true."
- Jonathan Foster, journalism professor
- Jonathan Foster, journalism professor
Summary
Summary
In this short chapter, you learned the code of ethics for journalists and their importance. May you have luck in your reporting!
Further Resources...
Further Resources...
To learn more examples of a journalist’s code of ethics, look at the following resource by the Society of Professional Journalists. They list out more in-depth examples and incidents regarding the principles in this page.
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