Journalists who write for the East Tennessean are governed by a Code of Ethics which is derived from the Associated Collegiate Press Model Code of Ethics for Collegiate Journalists, and the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.
These codes contain the standards of conduct and moral judgments by which all journalistic writings are measured.
Professional journalists in this country are also governed by the same code of ethics, and any reporter, regardless of the medium they work in, who steps outside the boundaries of ethical journalism, should immediately find themselves as part of the unemployment line.
The power of the media in reporting the news should not be used to sway pubic opinion, nor should it control public opinion. According to our Code of Ethics, journalists who use the power of the media for personal or selfish reasons are adulterating a high trust.
Unless an individual is directly engaged in the writing of an opinion editorial, bias, regardless of the type, has no place in a news story.
Opinions and news items are always separate from one another, and professional journalists must never be guilty of editorializing the news.
Likewise, professional journalists must never engage in the practice of rushing to be the first to print or air a story without first questioning its validity. To do so is to commit journalistic suicide.
It recent months, the New York Times and USA Today were embarrassed by journalists who misrepresented their professions by fabricating stories solely for personal gains. Even though both reporters were ultimately fired for their reprehensible deeds, the damage had already been done.
And now we have CBS News, once considered by many to be the vanguard of broadcast journalism, resorting to “myopic zeal.”
For their part in a Sept. 8 airing of a discredited story about President Bush’s military service on 60 Minutes Wednesday, Mary Mapes, producer; Josh Howard, executive producer; and his top deputy, Mary Murphy, and Betsy West, senior vice president, were fired in what a CBS official said ” … needed to be done … and to turn this crisis into an opportunity to make CBS News stronger than it ever has been.”
Dan Rather, who narrated the report, was faulted for “errors of credulity and over-enthusiasm,” but was not disciplined by CBS executive Leslie Moonves.
Rather has stated that he will be leaving his post as anchor of the “CBS Nightly News” in March. Perhaps then, and only then can CBS News even consider the possibility of becoming stronger.
Mapes, Howard, Murphy, West and Rather – the zealots of CBS News. The Four Horsemen of a Journalistic Apocalypse, plus one. Edward R. Murrow has surely rolled over in his grave.
The question now becomes one of grave concern as to how the general public will view journalists.
Will we all suffer for the ethical sins committed by a few zealots, or will the pubic see the scandal at CBS for what it really is, and give the rest of us a pass? Or will there be an undetermined period of time of public microscopic scrutiny where all journalists will endure the ramifications inflicted on us by CBS News?
I don’t profess to have the answers to these questions, but what I do know is that the journalists, editors, and advisors associated with the East Tennessean are committed to a standard of excellence that is representative of the Society of Professional Journalists and their Code of Ethics.
There must never be moments of “myopic zeal,” nor “errors of credulity and over-enthusiasm.”
As a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, having taken my journalistic cue regarding professionalism from the late Howard K. Smith, I certainly have no intentions or thoughts of altering my designated course, and I have complete confidence in my East Tennessean colleagues to do the same.
Chris Bury, of ABC Nightline reminded journ-alists of a notice that was once posted in a Chicago newsroom: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” I suggest that we all paste a copy of this somewhere on our computer.
From the Cannon Corner, I’m Larry French.

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