Ethical Elements

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 518.

Follow the Code

The SPJ Code of Ethics consists of four main points, along the lines of looking for and reporting truth, decreasing harm, acting on one's own and being accountable, according to the Web site. Each of these points has points that provide further explanations for how to use the Code as a guide for ethical behavior.

The code, as SPJ states, “is intended not as a set of “rules, but as a resource for ethical decision-making.” The organization also states that under the First Amendment – the freedom of speech, religion, the press, petition and assembly – its code is not and cannot be legally enforceable. It is merely a resource for journalists and others to use as they are producing information for the print media.

Media Ethics: Issues and Cases lists in several ethical news values believed to be as equally important as the qualities journalists use most that define what is newsworthy, such as timeliness and prominence. On the list is accuracy (combining correct facts with correct words), reciprocity (the Golden Rule) and diversity (covering every aspect of the population fairly).

Combining these ethical elements with the more familiar elements, TIPCUPS = timeliness, interest. prominence, conflict, unusualness, proximity, significance, makes for a more well-rounded and credible story.