Ethics

The Media Helping Media ethics section is designed to help journalists navigate some of the challenges they might face as they go about their work.

For journalists, being impartial means presenting information without demonstrating favouritism towards any specific viewpoint or party.

Bias is a prejudice or favour for or against an individual or group. It is often an inaccurate and unfair judgement. We are all biased. It’s normal, although it is not desirable.

A piece of journalism should have many admirable qualities but one is more important than all the rest: accuracy. Rule Number One is: get it right. If you cannot appreciate and respect that rule, there is no point in going into journalism.

Without integrity your journalism is untrustworthy and suspect. Integrity is essential if a journalist wants to investigate issues, shine a light in dark places, and to dig where others don't.

The following are commonly accepted ethical guidelines for photojournalists adopted by most mainstream media.

In journalism, public trust is essential for credibility. One of the most significant threats to that trust are the many possible conflicts of interest that might confront journalists.

Journalists face a difficult balancing act. They must respect privacy, but they must also investigate issues that are in the public interest.