By Robert Steele and Jay Black
© 1999 American Society of Newspaper Editors

Codes of ethics can help newsroom staffers make sound decisions and build journalism credibility about the many ethical problems they may encounter in their work. The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) asked two leading media ethicists to analyze 33 current codes of ethics assembled by its Ethics and Values Committee. The goal was to highlight the most common and useful aspects of these documents to help editors evaluate their own code of ethics, if they have one, or help them create one, if they choose.

The recent flurry of code writing suggests that editors and news staffs are taking issues of ethics seriously. The process of drafting and redrafting and debating and implementing the codes has good therapeutic value in and of itself. Even better, newspapers with clearly enunciated principles and stated values, combined with strong ethical decision-making skills, can better serve their readers and the public interest. Therein lies an essential connection to credibility.

It is no surprise that the 33 codes of ethics offered by ASNE member newspapers include a wide range of approaches for handling moral dilemmas. Some are heavy on time-honored tradition, and others venture into the impact of the new technologies at the turn of the new century.

Most of the codes are long lists of "do's and dont's," salted with an occasional element on the decision-making process. Some take a decidedly user-friendly stance, reading like conversations between colleagues who respect one another's quests for excellence. Others are much more negative in tone, loaded with "thou shalt-not's" and infused with a paternalistic tone implying that staffers are inclined to get away with anything not specifically forbidden by the codes.

The most popular subject in these codes is conflict of interest, which includes issues ranging from accepting gifts and travel junkets to political involvement and community activity. About half of the codes we examined deal with the subjects of sources and matters of manipulation of photographs. Fewer deal with corrections and plagiarism.

Missing from many codes are standards or discussion of privacy, deception, identification of juvenile suspects, and racial stereotyping. Fewer than one in five codes address the subject of tensions between the editorial and advertising departments. Many codes ignore the subject of enforcement.

These 33 codes also vary greatly in length. The Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia, weighs in with some 8,000 words, while The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, among others, is a comparatively pithy 500 words.

This was not a random sample, since these were voluntary submissions to a general call. However, these codes reflect the various ways American newspapers address matters of ethics.

In looking at these 33 codes, we found that newspaper codes of ethics, like those of most professional institutions, try to serve at least two important functions: public relations and education. A good newspaper code promotes ethical thought and behavior within the newspaper, showing newcomers where the landmines are and reminding veterans of the newsroom's values and norms. It also justifies journalists' activities to the public at large, especially during times of diminished credibility and intensified public scrutiny. These functions are often reflected in the codes' preambles. Following are some excerpts and examples from the 33 codes submitted for our review.

Public Relations

Good examples of codes sensitive to public relations are the following:

The code of The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, states:

For The News & Observer to be the area's primary source for news and information, we must have the trust and confidence of our readers. Readers must know that the newspaper that arrives on their doorstep every morning is there to serve them not politicians of a certain stripe, not special interest groups. That puts the burden on us editors, reporters, copy editors, news researchers, photographers, designers, graphic artists, and support personnel to avoid conflicts of interest or even the appearance of such conflicts.

A newspaper code that eloquently seeks to remind its staffers of ethical decision-making, with an eye on public image, is Florida's Orlando Sentinel which states:

We stand for the journalistic values of truth, honesty, courage, fairness, compassion, balance, independence, credibility, and diversity.

We seek the truth and report it as fully as possible under deadline pressures, striving for clean, concise, complete reporting.

We seek out and disseminate competing perspectives without being unduly influenced by those who would use their power or position.

We seek to give a voice to the voiceless.

We seek to treat sources, subjects, and colleagues as people deserving our respect, not merely as a means to our journalistic ends.

We seek to inform our readers and to reflect fairly the breadth of our community.

Our first obligation is to our credibility -- that is, to the public at large and not to any other person, business, or special interest. Employees should avoid any activity that would impair their integrity or jeopardize readers' trust in us.

Conflict of Interest

As noted earlier, conflict of interest, including matters of independence and personal behavior, is the most popular element of the codes we examined.

Only one of the 33 newspapers did not address this issue -- one-fourth of the codes deal exclusively with issues of conflict of interest with no attention paid to any other issue. The San Francisco Chronicle (California) deals with many newsgathering issues in its 2,000-word statement on "Ethical News Gathering," but doesn't address conflict of interest.

The second-most common element of the codes we examined is news sources. Of the 33 codes, 18 deal with matters of source-reporter relationships and confidentiality agreements in some fashion. Some papers handle this issue in a few sentences, and others devote several pages of their policy to this matter.

Interestingly, the issue of manipulation and alteration of photos is included in about half of these 33 codes. One would not have found this matter addressed in most newspaper codes a decade ago.

Perhaps surprisingly, fewer than half of the 33 codes we examined address the issue of corrections. Only 13 of the 33 codes include anything on plagiarism.

Matters of deception and misrepresentation are included even less often. Only 11 of the 33 codes pay any attention to this matter. While several of the codes deal extensively with issues of privacy and set forth guidelines for newsgathering, only one-fourth of the codes address the issue at all. About the same percentage of codes address matters of handling quotes and issues of fabrication of characters or conversation. Only four of the codes include any guidelines on one of the tough issues newspapers face these days: identification of suspects, and juvenile suspects in particular.

Timeless Values

To be sure, these codes include considerable attention to journalism's foundational principles and the timeless values. Here are some of the better examples.

The Journal News of White Plains, New York, (formerly Gannett Suburban Newspapers) includes this in the section on fairness:

Allegations against an individual often require a response. If the person cannot be reached, say so -- but only after a serious effort to get to the person has been made. Consider delaying publication, if possible, to reach the other side; if that is not possible, consider continuing to try to get to the person for an insert for later editions or for a follow-up story. If publication of a story has been delayed, additional efforts to get to persons unavailable at the time of writing should be considered.

New Technology

The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana) is one of the few papers to even address matters of the Internet in its ethics policy:

Apply our high standards for accuracy and attribution to anything you find using electronic services. Make certain a communication is genuine and information accurate before using it in a story.

Raleigh's News & Observer also addresses matters of ethics in the use of the Internet. Its section on plagiarism reads:

Don't present other people's ideas or writing and pass them off as your own. With the explosion of the Internet, we have more access to more information from more sources, but we have to resist the temptation to use it without attribution. This policy is simple, and it's safe: Don't do it.

Sources and Reporters

The San Francisco Chronicle's code offers one of the clearest treatments on the always-thorny matter of dealing with sources that want confidentiality. It reads in part:

A reporter who pledges confidentiality to a source must not violate that pledge. If the reporter is asked by an editor for the identity of a source, the reporter should advise the source of the editor's request. If the source wishes to withhold his or her identity from the editor, then the reporter and editor must decide whether or not to use the information even though the source's identity remains known only to the reporter.

Editorial Independence

The Kansas City Star (Missouri) is one of the few papers in our survey to address possible tensions between the roles of the editorial and business sides of the paper. In its conflicts of interest section of the code of ethics, the policy reads:

Maintain a clear line between advertising and news. We are especially inviting as targets of threats to remove advertising if we don't write positive stories. In cases of special sections produced by the editorial department, editors will exercise sole judgment over content.

The newsroom ethics policy of the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, has something to say about journalistic independence in an era of new approaches to reporting and community connections:

Take care when cooperating with government and other institutions on public journalism projects. Often, these efforts are worthwhile and in the readers' interest. But they can also compromise our independence.

Diversity Issues and Racial Identification

One of the most challenging issues faced by newspapers is dealing with matters of diversity, including the use of race as an identifier in stories and matters of racial stereotyping. Only five of the 33 papers address this issue in their codes.

White Plains' Journal News takes a more detailed approach in its "Standards of Professional Conduct" for news employees:

Do not describe a person by race, religion, or ethnic background unless it is pertinent to the story. Do not quote racial, ethnic, or religious jokes or slurs unless essential to the story (they rarely will be).

In descriptions of crime suspects, do not use racial or ethnic characterizations unless they are part of a fairly complete description of a fugitive suspect that could reasonably assist the public in helping police.

Be especially sensitive to nuances of using any references that may be offensive to a minority group. If there are inoffensive alternatives, use them.

Stories, illustrations, and photographs should be mainstreamed; that is, an effort should be made to include minority representation in routine ways so that our news coverage more accurately reflects the makeup of the communities we cover.

Be wary of racial stereotyping in photographs.

Enforcement

Of the 33 codes we examined, many do not address enforcement. Of those that do, the treatment is usually brief and general. Many of the codes contain some reference to the fact that no code can anticipate all problems, suggesting the need for consultation with supervisors whenever a potential problem arises. However, few spell out a systematic process for airing a grievance or resolving a conflict.

The code of ethics of The Dallas Morning News (Texas) merely states that "violating some guidelines could result in disciplinary action or termination."

The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, is the most expansive in its treatment of enforcement of its code. It includes seven specific points, one of which speaks to an honor code concept: "It is the obligation of staff members to bring any violation of this code to the attention of the supervisor or the editor."

Codes and Credibility

While all 33 codes we examined address specific standards of individual behavior generally in negative "thou shalt not" terms, only about half of them use positive terms to clearly enunciate journalists' roles, moral obligations, and professional responsibilities.

That red light tone emphasizing restrictions, as opposed to a green light tone emphasizing duties and responsibilities, may protect the paper in some ways, only to leave it vulnerable in others. We can only infer, from reading the codes, how many newsrooms have a well-oiled process for decision-making. But if our reading is correct, it seems that in most of these newsrooms and at least on the issues addressed in these codes, the solution to ethical dilemmas lies much more in deference to a rule book and the official voice of supervisors and less in critical thinking, discussion with peers, and effective protocols for decision-making.

Ethicists are fond of saying that reliance upon codes is the halfway point between visceral devotion to gut instincts and the application of ethical reflection and reasoning. Indeed, blind obedience to codified rules is about on a par with blind obedience to authority or to unquestioned tradition. At best, codes move us away from dogmatic behaviors and toward reasoned behaviors based on wisdom of the ages. Codes are not the panacea for all the ethical dilemmas in the news or any other business, nor are they the solution to the credibility crisis.

As we wrote in Quill, the official magazine of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), after SPJ revised its code in 1996: "Carefully written codes highlight and anticipate ethical dilemmas so we don't all have to reinvent a decision-making process each time we face a new dilemma; they inspire us about our unique roles and responsibilities; they make each of us custodians of our profession's values and behaviors, and inspire us to emulate the best of our profession; they promote front end, proactive decision-making, before our decisions 'go public.'"