Society of Professional Journalists - Code of Ethics

[Turn CO Blue]

As I was surfing around today, I came upon this website and their code of ethics originally adopted in 1926 and last revised in 1996:

<http://www.spj.org/ethics_code.asp>

You gotta love the first paragraph -- it reads like DU'ers would have written it!

(snip)
Preamble
Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.
(snip)

Below are a few snippets from the code of ethics that I'm sure Armstrong Williams or anyone at Faux never bothered to read or embrace (of course, I doubt they're members):

(snip)
Act Independently

Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.

Journalists should:

* Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
* Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
* Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.
* Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.
* Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
* Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.
* Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.
* Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
* Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.
* Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

(snip)
much more on the link
------------------------------
The expectations are set. We have to hold them to it.

TCB

[fasttense]

1. They have ethics?????

You can knock me down with a feather. Since corporations took over the media for brush I thought they threw away their ethics. There must be some kind of clause in there for kowtowing to your right wing nut bosses and only reporting what's good for ST Brush.

[Turn CO Blue]

2. Well, they have a code of ethics written down, anyway.

[AverageJoe]

3. I used to teach journalism

at a small Mississippi university. I harped on the SPJ code of ethics every day in class. I don't know if the students learned much else from me, but they were bombarded witht the code. Now, whether they chose to forget about it after they left my class, I don't know....

[Turn CO Blue]

4. Thank you. Good for you and even better that your students

to have heard about the nobler ideals of the profession.

Apparently, it's been a challenge for TV journalists not to get lost in backcombed and hairsprayed hair and the grab for ratings during Sweeps.

[GoldenOldie]

5. Need to understand who are the journalists and who are those that have

only given themselves the title. A good example is Tim Russert everyone thinks of him as a "journalist," yet he was in fact a lawyer. Layers have been trained to take one side or the other, be it prosecutor or defense. We are told that these sides look for the "truth," but in fact they only look for that side that they are defending or prosecuting. Students in law schools, are taught through carefull roll play and debating specific sides. Tim Russert does not look at both sides with attempts to arrive at a logical conclusion. He has mentally taken sides and will try to bend his questions to his already defined conclusion/opinion.

True Journalists want the facts from both sides and are willing to give all sides and let the readers determine the truth. Investigative Journalists......which are becoming a dying breed, delve deeply into the subject and submit all information and allow the listener, reader, to form his/her own opinion.

What we know have 24/7, is strictly entertainment, where the entertainers, ie., Tim Russert receive big bucks, and far to many listeners believe that they are actually receiving factual information.

[Turn CO Blue]

6. Absolutely agree. There's no news - just entertainment now.