Make plain what is factual information and what is comment.
Always respect a person’s character and identity, privacy, race, nationality, and belief. Never draw attention to personal or private aspects if they are irrelevant.
Make sure that headlines, introductions, and leads do not go beyond what is being related in the text.
Always reveal your source when the information is quoted from or based on other content creators including the general media.
In particular, avoid the presumption of guilt in crime and court reporting. Make it evident that the question of guilt, whether relating to somebody under suspicion, reported, accused, or charged, has not been decided until the sentence has legal efficacy. It is a part of good press conduct to report the final result of court proceedings, which have been reported earlier.
Always consider how reports on accidents and crime may affect the victims and next-of-kin of both victims and the accused. Do not identify victims or missing persons unless next-of-kin has been informed. Show consideration towards people in grief or at times of shock.
Be cautious in the use of names and photographs and other clear identifiers of persons in referring to contentious or punishable matters. Special caution should be exercised when reporting cases at the early stage of an investigation, cases concerning young offenders, and cases in which an identifying report may place an unreasonable burden on a third party. Identification must be founded on a legitimate need for information. It may, for instance, be legitimate to identify someone where there is imminent danger of assault on defenseless individuals, in the case of serious and repeated crimes, if the identity or social position of the subject is patently relevant to the case being reported on, or where identification protects the innocent from exposure to unjustified suspicion.
Reporting on children, it is considered good press conduct to assess the implications that media focusing could cause in each case. This also pertains to when the person in charge or parent, has agreed to exposure. As a general rule the identity of children should not be disclosed in reports on family disputes or cases under consideration by the childcare authorities or by the courts.
When using photos, graphics, illustrations, video, audio or any other type of content always credit the original creator.
Exercise caution when using photos in any other context than the original.
Protect the credibility of the journalistic photograph. Photos used as documentation must not be altered in a way that creates a false impression. Manipulated photos can only be accepted as illustrations if it is evident that it in actual fact is a picture collage.
The use of pictures must comply with the same requirements of caution as for a written or oral presentation.
Incorrect information must be corrected and, when called for, an apology must be given, as soon as possible.
Those who have been subjected to strong accusations shall, if possible, have the opportunity to simultaneous reply as regards factual information. Debates, criticism and dissemination of news must not be hampered by parties being unwilling to make comments or take part in the debate.
Those who have been the subject of an attack shall have the chance to reply at the earliest opportunity unless the attack and criticism are part of a running exchange of views. Any reply should be of reasonable length, be pertinent to the matter, and seemly in its form. The reply can be refused if the party in question has rejected, without an objective reason, an offer of presenting a contemporaneous rejoinder on the same issue. Replies and contributions to the debate should not be accompanied by polemic editorial comments.
Beware that digital publication pointers and links could bring you to other electronic media that do not comply with the Ethical Code. See to it that links to other media or publications are clearly marked. It is considered good press conduct to inform the users of interactive services on how the publication registers you and possibly exploits your use of the services.