- Stories should not be biased; each side of a situation should be equal when reporting.
- Remember, your story is a diamond: Make sure you account for any and all angles of your story.
- When conducting an interview, do not use the opinions of friends, co-workers or associates in order to make sure that your story isn’t angled in a desired direction.
- Do not use any anonymous quotes or interviews when writing your story unless you can establish credibility.
- Do not defame someone’s character, especially if it is your personal opinion. Be sensitive to all the stakeholders, especially when reporting on tragic events.
- When reporting on someone’s opinion about another person, make sure to talk to that other person to get his or her side.
- Do not rely on gossip.
- Always attribute your quotes and comments.
- Don’t make up or add anything additional to the quotes, unless it’s used to clarify. Use brackets to show added information, for example: “[he] wanted.”
- Never assume.
- If quotes contain profanity, make sure the quote actually fits with your story
- When reporting, make sure not to promote. This will ensure that your story will come across as unbiased as possible.
13. Do not plagiarize. Attribute.
14. Sexual harassment, racist remarks and disparaging comments about sexual orientation will not be tolerated in the newsroom.
15. Photos should be factually representative of the actual situation. Manipulation should be limited to:
- Lighting
- Clarification and focus
- Resizing
- Cropping limited to that which does not change content or meaning
16. All information regarding photos will be held to the same standards as news reports: No copyrighted images will be used without permission and credit and only when staff generated photos are not available. All photos should have credits.
THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR THOSE WHO BREAK THIS CODE OF ETHICS
Even though this is a learning process, be warned. Actions will be taken against repeat offenders.
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