Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics in a 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 e to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice. 

 

Seek Truth and Report It 

Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. 

Journalists should: 

• Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible. 

• Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing. 

• Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability. 

• Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises. 

• Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context. 

• Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations. 

• Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it. 

• Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story 

• Never plagiarize. 

• Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular to do so. 

• Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others. 

• Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status. 

• Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant. 

• Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid. 

• Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context. 

• Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. 

• Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection. 

Minimize Harm 

Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect. 

 

Journalists should: 

• Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects. 

• Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief. 

• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance. 

• Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy. 

• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity. 

• Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes. 

• Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges. 

• Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed. 

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. 

• Disclose unavoidable conflicts. 

• 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. 

Be Accountable 

Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other. 

Journalists should: 

• Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialogue with the public over journalistic conduct. 

• 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. 

 

The SPJ Code of Ethics is voluntarily embraced by thousands of writers, editors and other news professionals. The present version of the code was adopted by the 1996 SPJ National Convention, after months of study and debate among the Society's members. 

 

Commandments for Journalists 

1.     Be interesting. 

2.     Do not lie. 

3.     Be a trustworthy surrogate. 

4.     Write in language that ordinary people use and can understand. 

5.     Listen to people. 

 

Five Nearly Absolute Principles 

1.     Be a humane truth-teller 

2.     Be heedful of the rights of others 

3.     Do your work fairly 

4.     Promote justice wherever possible within the limits of your craft and profession 

5.     Be mindful that independence and freedom are possible only if journalism itself acts as a steward 

of free expression 

 

 

Common Journalism Terms 

 

5W+1H -- The six questions that should be answered in every news article. Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? 

angle -- A particular point of view or way of looking at a subject. 

attribution--credit given to who said what or the source of facts. 

banner -- A headline that extends all the way across the page. 

beat -- A specific territory a reporter covers on a regular basis. 

bleed -- A photo or illustration that extends beyond the usual margins, generally to the edge of the page. Often used in two-page ads and/or full page ads. 

bias--a position that is partial or slanted. 

byline -- Credit line at the beginning of an article to show who is the author of the article. 

caption -- Description or comment that goes with an illustration, graphic and/or photo. Also called a cutline. 

column -- Newspapers are usually divided into 5, 6 or 8 column layouts. The standard width of a column is 2 and 1/16th inches. Or, an article in which a writer or columnist gives an opinion on a topic 

column inch -- A layout measurement. It is the width of the column (standard is 2 and 1/16th inches) and 1 inch deep. Usually an editor will say, "I need an 9-inch story." In this case, the editor is means column inches, which is about 25 to 30 words per inch. Nine column inches would be 225 to 270 words (9 times 25 and 9 time 30). 

copy--The words of an article, news story, or book or any broadcast writing, including commercials. Also, any written material intended for publication, including advertising 

copy editor -- Person who corrects or improves articles before they are printed.
cropping -- Process of marking or cutting a photo to eliminate parts of it. A photo of a person standing in 

front of a building can be "cropped" to just the person's face. 

cutline -- See caption. 

deck--a smaller headline which comes between the headline and the story. 

display type -- Any type larger than body type -- used mostly for headlines and ads. 

dummy -- Diagram of a particular page layout and/or advertisement or of general appearance for a publication. 

editor -- Person who prepares copy for publication. 

editorial -- An article written which gives the author's opinion. It can use facts to support the opinion. editorializing -- The inappropriate use of an author's opinion or unattributed opinion in a news article. 

evergreen stories -- Articles that are not timely. They can be held back when space is limited and used later to fill holes. 

feature -- A story which appeals to an audience because of the human interest of its contents rather than the importance of its contents. 

flag -- The nameplate, or printed inscription containing the name of the newspaper. 

flush-left or flush-right -- Copy or headlines aligned with the margin on the left or right. 

folio -- page number 

folio line -- The information that runs above the regular page content, normally includes Publication name, section, page number and date. 

font -- A style of type. 

gobbledygook--language that is unnecessarily complicated, unclear, wordy, or includes jargon. 

grabber -- An attention getter, usually a lead or headline. 

gutter -- The space between columns or the wider space where two adjoining pages meet. 

header -- A headline used at the beginning of an article or within the body to divide sections. 

headline -- A title or attention grabber above the body or an article. The author of the story usually does not write the headline. 

hole -- An unanswered question in an article. Usually the article is missing one of the 5W1H.
human interest story--a story that focuses on the human side of news and often appeals to the readers’ 

emotion.

investigative journalism--a story that requires a great amount of research and hard work to come up with facts that might be hidden, buried, or obscured by people who have a vested interest in keeping those facts from being published. 

inverted pyramid -- A method of organizing a news story to put the most important news at the top or beginning of an article, the rest of the information is presented in decreasing order of importance. 

italic -- Type that slants to the right.
jump -- To continue a story on another page.
jumphead -- A headline over a story that has jumped from another page.
justified -- Type with lines adjusted to be flush with both the left and right margin. 

kicker -- A smaller emphasis headline appearing above a larger head.
layout editor--the person who begins the layout plan, considering things like placement and amount of space 

allotted to news and advertising copy, graphics, photos, and symbols. 

lead -- Opening of a story, usually a summary of most important information. Also spelled as 'lede.' 

lede -- Opening of a story, usually a summary of most important information. 

libel -- A false statement of fact usually written or printed that defames a person's character. Opinions cannot be libel. 

masthead -- The identification statement usually placed on the editorial page. It includes the nameplate, policy statement, key personnel and so on. 

morgue--newsroom library. 

mug shot -- A photo showing someone's face or sometimes head and shoulders. 

nameplate -- See also flag. 

op-ed page--a page in a newspaper that is opposite the editorial page, and contains columns, articles, letters for readers, and other items expressing opinions. 

off the record--something a source does not want repeated in a news story. 

pasteup -- A layout sheet with copy and heads pasted down and positions for illustrations indicated. 

pica -- Unit of measure used by printer and page designers. Six picas roughly equal an inch. 

plagiarism--using the work of another person (both written words and intellectual property) and calling that work your own. 

point -- A printer's unit given to the height of a line of copy or headline or the thickness of a ruling line. 12 points equals one pica and 72 points equals one inch. Body type is usually 10- 12 points. Headlines should be 24 - 72 points. 

proofreading -- Carefully checking printed copy for errors before the publication goes to press. 

pull-out quote--a provocative phrase or quote from the text is used as a teaser so compelling that the reader will be motivated to read the entire article upon seeing it. The pull-out quote also breaks up the copy, making the article less text-heavy and therefore, more inviting to the reader. A good pull-out quote is a great way to stress an important point in the article and should reflect the best the article has to offer. To be most effective, the pull-out quote should be brief—about 8 to 15 words. 

reporters--the people who gather facts for the stories they are assigned to write. rule -- A line of varying size and/or thickness used to separate two items. 

serif -- A small finishing stroke on letters in some styles of fonts. This typeface has serifs. Sans serif are typefaces without serifs. Serif fonts make better body copy, sans serif is often used for headlines. 

screens-- Shaded areas of copy in a newspaper.
sidebar -- A column of copy and/or graphics which appears on the page of a magazine or newspaper to 

communicate information about the story or contents of the paper. slander --Similar to libel, but spoken instead of published. 

soft news --Stories that are interesting but less important than hard news, focusing on people as well as facts and information and including interviews, reviews, articles, and editorials. 

source--a person who talks to a reporter on the record, for attribution in a news story.
style--conformity of language use by all writers in a publication (e.g., AP style is conformity to the rules of 

language according to the Associated Press) 

summary lead--the traditional journalism tool used to start off most hard news stories. The first few sentences of a news story which usually summarizes the event and answers the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? 

tabloid -- Technically, a publication half the size of a standard newspaper page; but commonly, any newspaper that is splashy and heavily illustrated. Also a "supermarket" tabloid that stresses dramatic stories, often about sensational subjects. 

tombstones-- Two headlines placed side by side, which may cause readers to mistakenly believe they are one long headline instead of two. 

typo -- A common phrase used to describe a typing error.