Journalism's new code of ethics in September 2014

Sep 18, 2014 TheHill.com story

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) adopted a new code of ethics this month and the main difference between the revamped code and and the one that had been in place since 1996 is that the new version addresses the alarming tendency to rush stuff onto the Web as soon as we hear about it, without taking the time to make sure it's true.

According to the new SPJ code, journalists should:

• Verify information before releasing it

And —

• Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.

In other words, journalists should not:

• Report that someone has died when that person is still very much alive (Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D-Ariz.], January 2011; Joe Paterno, January 2012).
• Report that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the Affordable Care Act when in fact it has upheld the Affordable Care Act (June 2012).
• Report on the day of the Boston Marathon bombings that a Saudi suspect is in custody when the two Chechen suspects were not identified until three days later (April 2013).
• Misidentify the gunman as the brother of the gunman in the Sandy Hook School massacre, nor incorrectly report that the gunman's mother worked at the school (December 2012).

So journalists new a new

#media - #moronism - #humor