EUROPEAN CODE OF JOURNALISM ETHICS

DRAFT#4, JANUARY 2011

A JOURNALIST OR BLOGGER

1. SEEKS OUT THE TRUTH

a) never publishes information known to be inaccurate;
b) quotes unconfirmed reports, rumours or assumptions as such;
c) distinguishes between facts and opinions and between editorial and
commercial content; d) checks information in words and images to ensure
accuracy;
e) does not omit or distort essential information from content, headlines, images
or captions;
f) gives the subjects of articles the right to reply;
g) quickly corrects assertions, especially those of a personal nature, if found to
be incorrect;
h) identifies and links to sources wherever possible;
i) invites dialogue over the content of articles;
j) does not take financial advantage from unpublished financial data nor gives
such data to other persons.

2. RESPECTS PRIVACY UNLESS CLEARLY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

a) does not intrude into anyone's private life without the subject’s prior consent
unless clearly justified by the public interest;
b) treats information given ‘off the record’ as such;
c) obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, unless
investigations are both overwhelmingly in the public interest or involve evidence
that cannot be obtained by straightforward means;
d) approaches stories about children, youths or hospital patients with special
sensitivity.

3. DEFENDS PRESS FREEDOM AND AUTHORS’ RIGHTS

a) resists threats to influence, distort or suppress information;
b) defends the freedom to investigate and honestly disseminate information, the
freedom to comment and to criticize, and the right of the public to be informed;
c) refuses payments, donations, free holidays, work trips, pleasure trips,
facilities, or admission to secret societies where they may damage his credibility;
d) promotes the free access to information held by public administration and
public archives;
e) always avoids plagiarism, quotes sources, and respect the rights of the
author;
f) does not make use of freedom of the press with profit-seeking intentions;
g) is wary of sources offering information for favours (and where accepting such
information, discloses the favours).
4. REJECTS DISCRIMINATION AND SENSATIONALISM
a) does not publish material likely to spark hatred or discrimination on the
grounds of a person's age, gender, race, colour, religion, disability, or sexual
orientation;
b) avoids focusing on details of violence or brutality unless clearly in the public
interest;
c) does not portray research findings that are still at an early stage as if they
were conclusive, as this can foster unfounded hopes or fears among vulnerable
readers.

5. PRESUMES INNOCENCE, PROTECTS SOURCES AND THIRD PARTIES

a) presumes the innocence of the accused in reports on investigations, criminal
court proceedings and other formal procedures;
b) does not portray as offenders people who have not been judged guilty in legal
proceedings;
c) avoids mentioning the names of relatives or friends of persons accused of or
sentenced for a crime, unless they are linked to the said crime;
d) does not reveal the identities of victims of sexual violence, unless required by
the victims themselves;
e) proceeds with great caution when publishing items that could identify
members of a legal team or of the police involved in a case involving organized
crime;
f) protects the identity of sources who supply in confidence information and
material used in reporting, unless it has been proved that the source has
deliberately falsified information.

Lead author: Howard Hudson, Editor at UNU-MERIT (United Nations University),

2011-present
formerly Editor at the European Journalism Centre, 2009-10
Maastricht, The Netherlands. Email: howardrhudson@gmail.com

Related articles:
Howard Hudson
EJC's Ethics Code to Include Bloggers, All of Europe, Stinkyjournalism.org (Nov
2010)
Media ethics for press freedom: Quid pro quo? Journalism.co.uk (Oct 2010)
EJC drafts international media code of ethics, Journalism.co.uk (Oct 2010)
Media coverage ethics for a changing media landscape, EJC magazine (Oct 2010)
European Journalism Code of Ethics Proposed, Stinkyjournalism.org (June 2010)
Press Freedom 2010: An EJC field guide, EJC magazine (May 2010)
Udo Seiwert-Fauti
Germany’s call for ‘quality journalism’…, EJC magazine (Nov 2010)