Editors Code Of Practice

This is the newspaper and periodical industry’s Code of Practice. It is framed and revised by the Editors’ Code Committee made up of independent editors of national, regional and local newspapers and magazines. The Press Complaints Commission, which has a majority of lay members, is charged with enforcing the Code, using it to adjudicate complaints. It was ratified by the PCC on the 1 August 2007. Clauses marked* are covered by exceptions relating to the public interest.

The Code
All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards. The Code, which includes this preamble and the public interest exceptions below, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public's right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of self regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment. It is essential that an agreed code be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. It should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it constitutes an unnecessary interference with freedom of expression or prevents publication in the public interest. It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material in both printed and online versions of publications. They should take care to ensure it is observed rigorously by all editorial staff and external contributors, including non-journalists.
Editors should co-operate swiftly with the PCC in the resolution of complaints. Any publication judged to have breached the Code must print the adjudication in full and with due prominence, including headline reference to the PCC.

1 Accuracy
i) The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate – an apology published.
iii) The press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party,
unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.

2 Opportunity to reply
A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.

3 Privacy
i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications. Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual's private life without consent.
ii) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in a private place without their consent. Note - Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

4 Harassment
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them.
iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.

5 Intrusion into grief or shock
i) In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.
ii) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.

6 Children
i) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.
ii) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents.
iii) Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.
iv) Minors must not be paid for material involving children’s welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child's interest.
v) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life.

7 Children in sex cases
i) The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences.
ii) In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child -
iii) The child must not be identified.
iv) The adult may be identified.
v) The word "incest" must not be used where a child victim might be identified.
iv) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.

8 Hospitals
i) Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.
ii) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.

9 Reporting of Crime
i) Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story.
ii) Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.

10 Clandestine devices and subterfuge
i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents, or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent.
ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only
in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.

11 Victims of sexual assault
The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so.

12 Discrimination
i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.
ii) Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.

13 Financial journalism
i) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others.
ii) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor.
iii) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.

14 Confidential sources
Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.

15 Witness payments in criminal trials
i) No payment or offer of payment to a witness - or any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness – should be made in any case once proceedings are active as defined by the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
This prohibition lasts until the suspect has been freed unconditionally by police without charge or bail or the
proceedings are otherwise discontinued; or has entered a guilty plea to the court; or, in the event of a not guilty plea, the court has announced its verdict.
ii) Where proceedings are not yet active but are likely and foreseeable, editors must not make or offer payment to any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness, unless the information concerned ought demonstrably to be published in the public interest and there is an over-riding need to make or promise payment for this to be done; and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure no financial dealings influence the evidence those witnesses give. In no circumstances should such payment be conditional on the outcome of a trial.
iii) Any payment or offer of payment made to a person later cited to give evidence in proceedings must be disclosed to the prosecution and defence. The witness must be advised of this requirement.

16 Payment to criminals
i) Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, which seek to exploit a particular crime or to glorify or glamorise crime in general, must not be made directly or via agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates – who may include family, friends and colleagues.
ii) Editors invoking the public interest to justify payment or offers would need to demonstrate that there was good reason to believe the public interest would be served. If, despite payment, no public interest emerged, then the material should not

Oh yeon-ho "every citizen is a reporter"

Oh yeon-ho, ex-con, journalist and ­­the founder of OhMyNews, has received the Missouri Honour Medal for his contribution to Journalism.

The Missouri School of Journalism was set up in 1908 and was the first ever Journalism school. Since then it has been the breeding ground for many top Journalists.

The South-Korean, who many consider the founder of Citizen Journalism, set up the website OhMyNews in 2000. He was born in 1964, in Gokseng and now lives in Seoul with his wife and two children. Before the website he worked as a journalist for the off-beat monthly magazine Mal until he earned his masters degree in Journalism from Regent University in Virginia.

Oh yeon-ho, who dedicated his award to the citizen journalists and staff of OhMyNews, used the internet to set up his own news organisation as a way of getting away from the powerful media groups who ruled journalism especially in South Korea. The internet was cheap, accessibly and every citizen had the opportunity to access it. His aim was have a “bottom-up” approach to Journalism. Whereby Citizens and non-professionals would submit news articles and comment pieces of what they experienced. As opposed to news papers telling the citizens what the news is.

It started off with just few members of staff relying heavily on the 700 or so “citizens” who were writing for the online newspaper. Since then it has grown enormously, with 65 full time staff, who carry out more editorial roles rather than reporting, and more than 60,000 contributors. The Influence of the website is such that it helped win a general election for the Liberal Roh Moo Hyun in 2002.

Japan, usually the East-Asian trendsetters have taken notice, in an article written for the Japan media review, of the power and influence Oh yeon-ho and his website have. A number of Citizen Journalist websites have been launched since OhMyNews started and the debate over the impact of weather Citizen Journalism will change the whole media industry rages on. Oh yeon-ho, said “Professional reporting styles have their own merit, and citizen reporting has its own merits." But he has also said, “OhmyNews is a kind of public square in which the reform-minded generation meet and talk with each other and find confidence. The message they find here: we are not alone. We can change this society.”

Kids with a keyboard or media revolution

Internet Journalism – Kids with a keyboard or media revolution

The internet has opened up numerous possibilities for the citizen journalist. Citizen Journalism is a form of new media that involves individuals who publish work, usually on the internet, but do not have an affiliation with any news organisations. These citizen journalists provide information on the circles they operate in, including social, environmental and working circles.
This new wave of social commentary will often give a richer and more in depth analysis of events, as the people who write the commentaries, blogs and articles are the people who actually experience them.
These demi-journalists stand to topple the powerful news organisations that are supposedly run by the few but rule the masses. The impact of the bloging revolution echoes the revolutionary movements that have gone on in our changing world through out the ages. Could the traditional journalist become as scarce as the French monarchy? This is unlikely.
Where religion once stood as the governing body of the western world the media has taken over. Like the protestant revolution that chose to challenge the “old fashioned” Catholic church, internet journalism has started to challenge “old fashioned” Journalism. While Protestantism was revolutionary, it did not change or topple Catholicism it just stole some of its customers. This is what is likely to happen with Journalism, changes will be made but print will never go out of print and it will continue to keep its professional disciples.

Nicholas Lemann, Journalist for the New Yorker, refers to the internet as “Journalism without journalists”. In his article, Amatuer Hour, he explains how the United States has twelve million blogers and 34 per cent of them considered bloging to be a form of Journalism. While this is not a majority, it still means there are four million self-professed journalists bloging away, and that’s just in America. The sheer number of citizen journalists does prove that the internet is more than a substantial medium. The fact that professional internet Journalists are growing in number also pays testament to the influence the internet has.

One undoubted advantage of internet Journalism is the globalisation that it brings to the profession. There are even cases in Journalism where news organisations are going abroad to get cheap labour much like many other multi-national companies. Steve Schifreres Economics reporter for the BBC explains this in his article.

The hype that traditional journalism will one day become eradicated is in some sense fantastical. John Markoff, technology reporter for the Times said, “It sometimes seems we have a world full of blogers and that bloging is the future of journalism, or at least that’s what the blogers argue” John Markoff’s views can be considered on the far end of the spectrum but it is still inaccurate (or unknown) to assume that bloging is the sole future of journalism. However, internet journalism cannot be dismissed as angry kids with a keyboard. The new medium is most likely to go the same way as television and radio in the sense that it won’t change the face of journalism; instead it will stay its own medium and continue to grow irrespective of other journalistic forms.