The document discusses responsible journalism and codes of conduct for journalists. It covers topics like avoiding discrimination, using appropriate language, being factual and unbiased, protecting privacy, and obtaining consent. Journalists are expected to write accurate and truthful stories that consider all perspectives in a fair and balanced manner without defaming or harassing sources. Various regulatory bodies provide guidelines for journalists to follow regarding issues like privacy, children, and official secrets, though they cannot enforce the codes.

1. Responsible Journalism
Henry Buckham

2. Social and Cultural Awareness
• In many unions and journalism standards guides, those who work in journalism are
expected to write pieces that are not intended to discriminate or incite hatred
against people from certain backgrounds. This includes people from a different
ethnic background, creed, colour, those who are from a certain social or economic
background and the disabled. Because there are many in the population that may
have had no contact with someone from one of these backgrounds, it is easy for
journalists to write a piece or an article that paints them in a bad light, which
allows the reader to be easily influenced to believe in this way.
• The NUJ codes of conduct state that certain slang terms or language must not be
used to describe a group of people and offers a set of standards to be used
instead. This can range from using racist terms to generalizing a group of people
with an unfair label, such as referring to teenaged boys as ‘yobs’ or ‘thugs’ as this
is saying that all teenage boys cause trouble which is untrue.
• The union offers a conduct guide that gives correct terms to be used when
describing a certain group of people. For example, when reporting on immigrants,
the correct term for them should be used, so a group of immigrants looking for
work in the UK cannot be described as refugees and asylum seekers, which are
terms used to describe people who have come to a different country for safety if
they are under threat in their homeland.

3. Codes of Practice
• The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has a style guide and a list of points for its
members to follow when writing, which cover a range of topics including standard
of writing, language to be used and what to avoid. While these codes are not
enforced or regulated, punishment typically comes in the form of legal action by
the victim, who may have been subjected to slander because of misinterpretation,
or they may have been offended by certain language used in the offending article.
• Many of the points refer to being factual and not including the journalist’s own
opinion in what is supposed to be an informative piece, which leads to bias and an
unfair article. It also states that journalists should be honest and lawful when
investigating stories, and should not break the law or attempt to intrude on a
person’s private life. This is particularly evident in the ongoing Leveson Inquiry,
started following the emergence that News of The World reporters had hacked
into the voicemail messages of murder victim Milly Dowler.

4. Connotation
• One of the most important considerations when writing an article is the language
used. Thanks to association and stereotyping there have been many labels applied
to certain groups that can be now seen as offensive and discriminatory, and are no
longer suitable for professional writing. Journalists should take care to avoid slang
and nicknames, and use the correct term for the different social groups that they
write about to avoid coming off as derogatory.
• Some examples of groups who are regularly subject to criticism thanks to unfair
connotations are benefit claimants, the disabled and the elderly. Benefit claimants
should be referred to as such, and not as ‘scroungers’ or ‘on the dole’ as these
portray such people as cheap, sleazy and workshy, which is unfair generalization.
These kinds of connotations are quite common in right-wing newspapers who try
and use sensationalist and emotive language to stir up negative feelings towards a
certain group.

5. Alternative Responses
• When a piece or an article is written, the author usually has one or two certain
audiences in mind to cater/appeal to, by accommodating similar agendas and
beliefs. However, there is nothing to prevent an unintended audience from reading
the article with the possibility of causing offence, distress or upset resulting from
the viewpoint in the article, which may conflict this audience’s personal views or
discriminate against them. This is especially prevalent in newspapers on the far
ends of the political spectrum such as the Guardian and the Daily Mail, who will
cover subjects such as immigration, benefits and the European Union in very
different lights. It is important to consider how the article might be received by
these unintended audiences.
• For example, articles that paint immigration in a negative light (common in right-wing
newspapers) may be read by said immigrants in the UK, who may feel
discriminated against by the media and by extent the general populace. This is also
very commonly felt by those who claim benefits thanks to the negative stigma and
association with laziness and fraud, which may lead people who need the support
of the government to refrain from claiming them in fear of being associated with
these stereotypes.

6. Objective
• In professional journalism, news stories should not be prejudiced or biased against a
certain group or subject as it constitutes an unfair report and portrayal of an event,
where information from the other side may be pushed aside in favor of the
publication’s preferred side. Journalists will also be selective about the evidence of a
story, choosing parts that fit their own or their publication’s views and use them in the
story, leaving out truthful information that happens to be more in favor of an
unfavorable side.
• All stories should have a fair portrayal and should not be pushed aside in favor of other
stories. Often in newspapers, stories that are unfavorable will be less prevalent than
others, and sometimes will not be shown at all.
• Most newspapers are aligned to either the left or right wing of the political spectrum
and often carefully choose/write their stories to fit with the views of their chosen wing.
For example, the right wing is more based on traditions and old world values, and sees
immigration as a threat to the identity of a country. Right-wing based newspapers such
as the Express and the Daily Mail report on subjects like immigration with extreme
disdain, often making it headline news with sensationalist taglines to incite prejudice
from its readers, who often have right-wing views on immigrants and foreigners and
believe that they shouldn’t be allowed in so easily, if at all.

7. Accuracy
• Because people assume that what is published in a newspaper is completely true,
publications should publish accurate names, times, dates and quotes and use
them correctly. Failure to do so can often have dire consequences, such as warping
a story so that it no longer makes sense or makes a different person seem worse in
hindsight. Inaccurate reporting can result in misleading information and the wrong
interpretation of a story.
• Misleading/false information can also lead to defamation of a person and damage
their image by making an act by them worse than it actually is. This can lead to
lawsuits and legal action against the offending publication because they caused
distress or damages.
• For example, there are some stories are published to demonize immigration by
claiming that migrants cost the UK more than they contribute themselves. What
these reports fail to report is that the figures they publish stretch back all the way
to the 1950s, when the report claims the figures relate to the 1995-2011 period.

8. Truth
• In order to be seen as credible in a publication, journalists must make sure what
they are writing is the truth, and that it is not lying or causing misinterpretation
that could lead to slander or libel suits thanks to people getting the wrong idea
about a person and labeling them as such. Because they are mass-market
publications which millions of people read daily, they are expected to be entirely
truthful about what they print.
• Some journalists will sometimes publish untrue facts and figures to support a
political or personal agenda. Typically, figures may be altered to support a
journalist’s argument, or they could go as far as to publish figures that are out of
date or for a different purpose entirely.
• The same also goes for journalists who can make untrue comments about people,
either stating something factually incorrect about them as a person or saying that
they have said a certain quote, when in reality it is entirely false. These actions can
be very damaging for a person’s public image and if such lies have been printed
they would be eligible to sue for damages caused.

9. Fair and Balanced
• It is important to make sure that factual writing is even-sided and does not contain
any noticeable bias for a certain side. This is especially important to follow if a
biased piece of writing may lead to racial and gender discrimination, which goes
against the NUJ code of ethics.
• In order to avoid writing an unfair piece, journalists should consider both sides of
the argument and make sure that each side receives equal attention, allowing
both to be heard. Listening to one side only often leads to a warped interpretation
as they will only say things that they want to say, making them look better than
they actually are.
• Because sales are most important for mass-market tabloids they will often bend
this rule to sell more copies. Emotive language and heavy bias is used for sensitive
subjects such as the benefits system, immigration and foreign aid.

10. Defamation
• Defamation of a person is when somebody’s comments are deliberately or
accidentally misinterpreted or altered, resulting in the person appearing to have
said something they hadn’t or to make a certain person look bad. While mostly
accidental, defamation can also be deliberately done to fit a newspaper’s agenda
for or against someone, which goes against the NUJ codes for fair, balanced and
truthful reporting.
• Defamation often leads to libel cases to reverse the damage that can be caused by
inaccurate reporting, which in the case of companies, may lead to lost sales and
revenue as customers lose faith thanks to untrue comments about their
organization. In particular, a defamation case involved the Tesla car company, who
took the BBC to court following comments that were made on their Top Gear
programme. The comments by Jeremy Clarkson claimed that the Tesla’s range was
about 55 miles instead of the claimed 200 miles by the manufacturer. In court
Tesla claimed that this was untrue and sought libel against a number of other
incidents in the programme in which it claimed that the produces had lied about
the car’s brakes failing shortly after being driven.

11. Copyright
• Copyright is what protects people’s rights to the work they create from theft and
plagiarism. In journalism, work cannot be reproduced without permission from the
original author. Publishing or selling a piece of work without permission is an
offence and infringes the copyright of the work.
• Plagiarism is when someone copies a piece of work (from a book, magazine or the
internet) and passes it off as their own. This is a direct infringement of copyright
laws and if found guilty, defendants can be subject to fines and even
imprisonment, as well as lawsuits from the original author of the plagiarized work.
• There are exceptions to copyright which means the work is free to use by
journalists. For example, most government documents are free for use and
embedding, such as reports on legislations on law changes. These can be posted
on a story to provide basis for the argument and help the readers form their own
opinion on the matter.

12. Children and Young Persons
• Stories and articles regarding children and young people (defined as under the age
of 18, although with different subjects this can vary) are heavily regulated and
have a lot of rules regarding how they are reporting, especially regarding things
such as sex and crime. Because children are more naïve and easier to influence,
journalists are forbidden from contacting or photographing them for information
on stories without express consent from either parents or school authorities.
Bribing children with money, sweets or other gifts is strictly forbidden.
• Young persons have a right to confidentiality in sex cases. Under no circumstances
should children be identified in such a case, even if the journalist is legally free to
do so. Articles should also refrain from mentioning what relationship the child had
with the accused, if there was one.

13. Confidentiality
• Journalists have a legal obligation to protect the identities of sources who are
breaking the law of partaking in illegal activities. Because of the sensitive nature of
these investigations, journalists do not have to reveal the names of their sources
or where interviews and questions took place.
• Confidentiality is usually requested by sources who fear repercussions from others,
particularly defectors from oppressive countries such as North Korea. Another
reason is that certain sources may want to keep their identity secret so that peers
do not find out that it was them who said what has been said to the journalist.
• Protecting confidentiality helps to build trust in a journalist. People will not talk to
a journalist who has revealed someone’s personal details when they requested not
to be identified. Building personal trust helps to improve a journalist’s credibility
and fairness.

14. Official Secrets
• The Official Secrets Act is a legislation by the government that is in place to protect
sensitive secrets in the interest of national security. The Act prevents information
that would possibly endanger the country from falling into unauthorized hands.
• An individual will usually be required to sign the Act before they are permitted
access (usually for employment) to sensitive locations such as military facilities, air
bases, and government buildings.
• If a journalist is believed to have sources who may be threatening the security of
the country, the government may use the act to override confidentiality laws and
force the journalist to reveal the name of their source.
• An example of the Act in action is the case of former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson,
who was imprisoned in 1997 by attempting to publish a book detailing his career.
The government determined that some of the information contained in his writing
was too sensitive to be released internationally.

15. Codes of Practice
• Several regulatory bodies have issued sets of guidelines for journalists to
determine what is expected in reporting and journalism. The codes are typically in
place to set a standard for factual writing and to give journalists an example to
work towards. They have no legal powers to enforce these codes however, so the
industry is self-regulating. Because of the lack of powers, journalists often bend or
break the codes in their writing, either accidentally or deliberately to pursue an
agenda or to sell more copies of their newspaper.
• If a member of the public feels as if a certain publication has broken a code issued
by either of these bodies, they are able to issue a complaint to the Independent
Press Standards Organization (IPSO) which investigates claims against publications
and helps to come to resolution for both parties, either with compensation or
amending incorrect facts that have been published in a newspaper.

16. Privacy
• Everybody has a right to privacy, and journalists are not allowed to intrude on
anyone’s private life or sensitive activities without clear justification.
• Examples of where privacy is expected includes residences, discrete public areas
such as changing rooms and toilets, as well as hospitals and clinics. Journalists are
not permitted to engage with or photograph individuals who would otherwise
prefer to be left alone in such areas.
• This rule if often exploited by journalists who attempt to gather otherwise private
photographs which will help their newspapers to sell more copies.
• However, exceptions can be made if information gathered from a private place,
using concealed recording equipment, is in the public interest and is a threat to a
person or entity. This also applies to people found committing crime.

17. Intrusion
• The Editor’s Code of Practice forbids journalists from intruding into personal grief
or shock. The code requires that all enquires to those who are grieving to be made
with sympathy and discretion, as well as any articles with the acquired information
to be published with sensitivity. Events such as funerals are considered especially
private and personal and it is considered rude and insensitive for journalists to
intrude on what is a difficult time for those who are grieving.
• An example of intrusion into grief or shock is the recent event of a journalist
disguised as a priest who attempted to enter the hospital room of Michael
Schumacher, who was comatose following a skiing accident. The journalist’s cover
was eventually blown and he was escorted from the hospital following other
reports that journalists were cornering staff tending to Schumacher and asking for
interviews that would reveal sensitive information.

18. Harassment
• The codes of conduct by the NUJ and the PCC have clear guidelines on what
defines harassment in journalism. No journalist is allowed to continue contacting
or telephoning someone if they decline to speak to the press. The journalist must
not follow, telephone or otherwise pursue someone who has explicitly stated that
they do not want to be contacted again.
• This also includes adhering to a person’s wishes to not be photographed and later
have their picture used in an official story.
• This rule is often bent and broken by relentless journalists who want an advantage
over their competitors. Punishment for harassment can be along the lines of fines
or cease and desist orders.
• However, sometimes in the public interest this rule is often relaxed, particularly
when it involves uncovering criminal activity of protecting the public.