13. Ethics in Journalism

1. The Morality of Journalism

• difficult situation (right and wrong decisions, making ethical decisions)

• common moral rules (be honest and fair; don’t lie or steal; don’t take advantage of people; don’t fabricate; accept no gifts and promise no favors; be considerate of your power and responsibility; show compassion; correct mistakes)

2. Main documents, which regulate journalists’ work

• The IFJ Code of Conduct (1954)

- (respect for the right of the public to truth; defending the principles of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, fair comment and criticism; reporting only in accordance with facts of which journalists know the origin; using only fair methods to obtain; observing professional secrecy regarding the source of information based on race, sex, sexual orientation , language, religion, political or other opinions;)

- (professional offences; plagiarism; misrepresentation; calumny, unfounded accusations; acceptance of a bribe)

• Code of Ethics worked out in Belarus

3. Ethics of online Journalism

• the same ethical principles (no plagiarism; disclose; no gifts or money for coverage; check it out and then tell the truth, be honest)

14. Writing in Journalism

As a reporter, you should use simple and straightforward language.

As a general rule you should not be using colloquial language or slang apart from in quotes.

Even if you do not use slang, you need to make sure you are only using words that people use in everyday conversation. You also need to make sure you are concise. This means you should go through every story after you have written it to make sure there are no words that do not need to be there.

Your sentences should be short and to the point but there should also be some variety to their length as this will make your story more enjoyable to read.

When you check your story, make sure every sentence is easy to understand and can only be read to mean one thing. Your writing should also be active rather than passive.

Try to keep your paragraphs short. Generally, each one should only be a sentence or two in length and each paragraph should only be making one point.

This will help make your story easier for the reader to digest and having plenty of paragraphs will also make the text look less dense on the page.

Follow the Style Book. Every newspaper should have its own style guide.

Keep on Learning. Do not assume you know it all just because you have been doing it for a couple of years.

As the news desk and sub-editors change your articles, ask them why they have made the changes so you can learn from them.

14. Writing in Journalism

As a reporter, you should use simple and straightforward language.

As a general rule you should not be using colloquial language or slang apart from in quotes.

Even if you do not use slang, you need to make sure you are only using words that people use in everyday conversation. You also need to make sure you are concise. This means you should go through every story after you have written it to make sure there are no words that do not need to be there.

Your sentences should be short and to the point but there should also be some variety to their length as this will make your story more enjoyable to read.

When you check your story, make sure every sentence is easy to understand and can only be read to mean one thing. Your writing should also be active rather than passive.

Try to keep your paragraphs short. Generally, each one should only be a sentence or two in length and each paragraph should only be making one point.

This will help make your story easier for the reader to digest and having plenty of paragraphs will also make the text look less dense on the page.

Follow the Style Book. Every newspaper should have its own style guide.

Keep on Learning. Do not assume you know it all just because you have been doing it for a couple of years.

As the news desk and sub-editors change your articles, ask them why they have made the changes so you can learn from them.