NC State Student Media

Code of Ethics

“Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of 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. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society’s principles and standards of practice.”

-Preamble to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics

The goal of any journalist—whether a reporter, a photojournalist, a designer or an editor—is to seek truth and publish it.

The goal of any journalist—whether a reporter, a photojournalist, a designer or an editor—is to seek truth and publish it.To guide the journalist in seeking the truth, the N.C. State Student Media has a Code of Ethics —an outline for standards of conduct and moral judgments—that is designed to protect and strengthen the publication’s journalistic integrity and credibility. Whether it’s a question of accepting a gift or an issue of source anonymity, the Code of Ethics provides the reporter with guidelines and sets the track for ethical soundness.

For example, journalists must avoid conflicts of interest, whether the conflicts are real or simply perceived. Journalists always must strive for accuracy in everything they do. Deceiving or misinforming the reader, deliberately or accidentally, is one of the worst sins in journalism. Factual errors and conflicts of interests erode and cripple a publication’s credibility as a source of news and opinion. Therefore, journalists need to follow a Code of Ethics to preserve and build their publication’s credibility.

The Code of Ethics is an ever-evolving reference document with which every staff member should be knowledgeable. The editor of the publication retains the final judgment on all ethical questions, and ultimately, the editor shoulders the consequence of unethical practices.

This Code of Ethics is not meant to replace the professional codes of the Society for Professional Journalists nor the National Press Photographers Association. Instead, it’s meant to supplement them

Privileges

Free food

Reporters should make every effort to pay for their own food at events which they are covering. It’s acceptable to participate in an meal or refreshments provided at an event if all media receive the same treatment.

Free travel

Reporters may not accept free or discounted travel arrangements to events they will be covering. SMA will pay for all properly-authorized travel. There are two exceptions to this rule. Reporters and photographers covering out-of-town play-off games may ride on the team charter when invited and when no other mode of transportation is available. Reporters or photographers traveling on assignments that need military protection may make use of military transportation as necessary.

Free tickets and passes

Reporters may accept tickets and passes to events which they plan to cover for Student Media. It is unacceptable to use such passes for personal use.

Gifts

Reporters should not accept gifts, unless the gift has an estimated value less than $10. If the gift has significant monetary value, the reporter should send it back to the sender or donate it to charity. If a reporter accepts an insignificant gift, all subsequent gifts from the same sender should be sent back or donated to charity. Any material given for review immediately becomes property of Student Media.

Conflict of Interest

As a member of a club, organization or team

A reporter should not cover an event put on or participated in by a club, organization or team in which he or she is a member. Such reporters may consult with the reporter assigned to the story. The same principle applies to situations when the reporter’s family is involved.

As candidates for any elected or appointed office in Student Government or any other campus-wide elected office

An employee must suspend his or her work with Student Media during the campaign. The editor will also remove his or her name from the staff box during this time. If the employee is elected into office, his work with the publication must be suspended.

As a reporter writing an editorial

No Student Media employee may do both objective news coverage and editorial commentary on a single issue or event except sports reporters who routinely cover the same sports and teams.

Reporter Identification

Reporters should identify themselves to potential sources before the start of an interview. A reporter may only misrepresent his identity while on the job under one of two circumstances:

  • A reporter may misrepresent his identity if conducting a restaurant, a theater or some other type of review, where his or her presence being known may affect the outcome of the review.
  • An editor may allow a reporter to misrepresent his identity only if he feels the information at stake is unobtainable any other way, and it is vital to the coverage.

Source Requests

Sources will never be invited to review or edit work before it is published. Also, reporters will never pre-submit questions for an interview. A source has the right to deny an interview at any time. A reporter may discuss what another source said about a given topic with another source he or she is interviewing. Reporters, however, are not obligated to discuss what other sources said.

“Off-the-Record” v. “Not-for Attribution” Information”

Information given to reporters “off the record” will not be used directly in the story. Information given as “not for attribution” may be used by reporters in the story. However, the information should not be directly linked to the source. The reporter may write “a professor in the Department of English said,” or “a starting member of the football team said.” The reporter will promise neither “off-the-record” nor “not-for-attribution” privileges to a source without the permission of the editor.

Source Anonymity

Unless otherwise instructed by an editor, reporters are to use a source’s name in all cases not forbidden by law, with the exception being the names of sexual assault victims. Student Media does not print the names of sexual assault victims.

No Response Sources

If reporters take legitimate and appropriate measures to contact a source, and the source does not return their inquiry, then the reporters may write either “declined to comment,” “would not respond” or “was unavailable for comment.” The verb “refused” should only be used in such a setting with the permission of an editor.

Corrections

All Student Media are obligated to correct any error they make as soon as possible, no matter the level of consequence for the error. The corrections should be in a fixed, consistent location in the publication. The absence of such corrections calls into question a medium’s ability to call itself a public forum.

Attribution

All information from sources, including official documents, books, letters and emails, other articles and Web sites, should be attributed.

Other Work

  • Some Student Media employees may have another, non-media job, so long as there are no conflicts with their responsibilities for Student Media. The employee should let his or her editor know of any potential conflicts of interest immediately.
  • Employees may work for more than one on-campus publication, as long as they don’t hold salaried (i.e. paid monthly) positions in more than one publication.
  • Employees may free lance for off-campus media, as long as they do not cover the same event for both publications, and the off-campus obligations do not conflict with the employee’s commitment to Student Media.

Open Meetings & Open Records

North Carolina Law says media have access to most state-, local- and university- government meetings and records. Reporters should be knowledgeable of such laws and exercise them while reporting.