Journalism By Press Release

Originally published here.

For all of us out there who are sick of reading regurgitated press releases in the always reliable (cough) and scrupulously fair (cough, cough) mainstream media be aware that contrary to what you might think, journalists do have access to a Code of Ethics.

Head over to the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics page for a look at what these guys are supposed to be doing in, "seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues".

Some of my favourites include:

• Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error.
  
• Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing. (A big hello to Jennifer Yu at New Century Media).
  
• Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
  
• Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
  
• Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
  
  

My all-time favourite however, is, "Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media."

Now, here's a fun game we can all play.

Whenever you see or hear a "news article" from a "reputable" source that's obviously one sided (you know, quoting the BSA "statistics" on piracy, giving the RIAA or MPAA a free soapbox, etc.) fire off one of these pre-written emails. Just copy and paste.

If you get really good at this, you might be able to get a job as an investigative reporter!

Here we go:

Greetings Friend/Sir/Madam

I took exception with your recent report on [--------------insert description of story here].

In my view, it was seriously unbalanced, giving more coverage to one party/side of the argument than the other. Nor did it mention/explain the motives/interests of the party which received a disproportionate share of the coverage.

I hope that in the future, your publication/station/web site will present a more unbiased coverage of the issues involved in the stories you cover than it does at present.

If the quality of reporting does not rise above the copy/paste nature your publication/station/web site has used in the past, I will be forced to stop using your publication/station/web site as a reliable source of news and will cancel my subscription (if I have one) and encourage others to do the same.

Yours faithfully,

Someone Who Is Already Aware Of The Issues And Doesn't Appreciate Sloppy Reporting Practices.

The SPJ's Code of Ethics is a voluntary standard. The challenge for a professional journalist is whether or not he or she can live up to it.