2.01: Reporter's Notebook: "What specific rules do the reporters at your local newspaper have to follow to ensure credibility?"

Newspapers have always been one of the most common, popular ways for people to gather their news.  Due to newspaper's popularity, there is an abundant amount of gazettes circulating through every town and city. Before a paper can become popular and gain a desirable amount of readers, it must first prove that it is plausible. A newspaper can establish credibility with it's audience by only printing reliable and trustworthy information. To ensure nothing but valid information is printed in their gazettes, companies will often set up a code of ethics for their reporters or a set of rules journalists must use when creating an article.

The two most common, highly regarded rules for newspaper journalists include triple checking facts and never plagiarizing. Jane Healy, an editor at Orlando Sentinel, preached the importance of these two rules at Florida Scholastic Press Association conference I attended in October. She stated that if a reporter does not follow these two simple rules they are damaging their paper's credibility and WILL be fired. 

The New York Times is an example of a highly prosperous newspaper that has set up a code of ethics for their workers. On their company website, The New York Times has promptly displayed their company policy for the public to view.

Clause 21 in section 2A of their policy reads, “We treat news sources fairly and professionally. We do not inquire pointlessly into someone's personal life. We do not threaten to damage uncooperative sources, nor do we promise favorable coverage in return for cooperation. We do not pay for interviews or unpublished documents: to do so would create an incentive for sources to falsify material … that we publish.”

Newspapers are a highly respective medium that requires its reporters to follow equally respective rules.

Works Cited

Sigma Delta Chi. (1996). SPJ Code of Ethics. Retrieved 03 03, 2011, from Society of Proffesional Journalists: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

The New York Times Company. (2011). The New York Times Company Policy on Ethics in Journalism. Retrieved 03 03, 2011, from The New York Times Company: http://www.nytco.com/press/ethics.html