| Chapter 6
Journalism
Ethics: Virginian-Pilot Excerpts
By
David Krajicek
The ethics code of the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk has sections
devoted to crime reporting. Here are excerpts:
Crime Reporting
- We identify criminal suspects only after arrest warrants
have been issued, they have been arrested or they have been formally
charged. When we write about people accused of wrongdoing, we provide
them an opportunity to respond. That effort should include seeking
comments from defense attorneys, family members and friends.
- As a rule, we do not name juvenile suspects. We do identify
suspects 14 or older who are charged with committing crimes serious
enough to warrant their prosecution as adults. We name suspects
younger than 14 when the act is public, particularly brutal or of
legitimate concern to the community.
- We use sparingly such phrases as "unavailable for
comment'' or "could not be reached.'' We do so only after we
have worked hard to reach suspects, their attorneys and others with
a stake in the story.
- We report a suicide only when the incident occurred in
public or involved a public figure.
- Using "allegedly'' does not protect us from libel.
Instead, cite multiple official sources, court records and testimony
to make stories credible.
- Generally we try to name everyone involved in a crime serious
enough to warrant a story. Names of victims or witnesses may be
withheld if there's a legitimate concern for their safety. We do
not name victims of sexual crimes unless they request it. Decisions
to publish or withhold a name should be approved by a deputy managing
editor.
- When we identify suspects, we use differentiating details,
such as full name, middle initial, age, street and occupation. Providing
these details helps ensure accuracy and prevents innocent people
with the same name from being implicated.
- Reporting bomb threats and similar hoaxes may lead to "copycat"
threats. We generally avoid reporting these, except when many lives
are disrupted for extended periods or when the threat attracts considerable
community attention.
- When a public safety incident involves a public figure,
we should apply our usual standards for determining whether a story
is warranted. Ask this question: Does the incident conflict with
the person's public role? For example, we would write about a politician
with a long record of opposing drugs who is arrested for cocaine
use.
- When a public safety incident involves someone closely
connected to a public figure, we should apply our usual standards
for determining whether a story is warranted. Ask this question:
Is the public figure involved in the incident? When in doubt, do
not implicate the public figure. For example, a school principal's
name probably would not be included in a story about a spouse's
drug arrest.
Guiding Questions
- Have we given accused persons a chance to defend themselves?
Have we made serious efforts to reach a defense attorney? Have we
also sought comments and reaction from relatives, co-workers and
friends?
- Are we withholding the name of suspect, victim or witness because
of age, safety concerns, the nature of the crime or other privacy
concerns? Has a deputy managing editor approved withholding the
name?
- Are the allegations provably true? Are we attributing allegations
to records or testimony, and have we accurately represented the
material?
- Are we writing about an incident only because the suspect is a
public figure or connected to a public figure? Does this incident
say something about the public figure that the community should
know?
Sources
- Treat every source fairly and with respect. Always identify
yourself as a journalist so sources know their comments could be
published. For exceptions, talk to an editor.
Anonymity
- Anonymous sources should be rare and reasoned. Editors
have the right and duty to know the identity of unnamed sources
before publication. If a source's identity cannot be revealed by
a reporter to an editor, the information will not be published.
Any exception must be approved by the publisher.
- We will not permit an unnamed source to demean, attack
or vilify a named person or institution unless the publisher expressly
approves on the basis of carefully considered and compelling reasons.
Guiding Questions
- Can someone else provide the information you're looking for?
- Can an on-the-record source confirm the anonymous source's information?
- Is the information crucial to public understanding of an important
matter?
- Does the source have a legitimate reason for wanting to be shielded?
Will identification put the source in physical danger or jeopardize
his/her career or result in some other serious form of retribution?
- Have you skeptically analyzed the source's motives? Is the information
merely a character attack?
- When we decide a source should be shielded, we must tell
the reader as much as possible about the unnamed source short of
revealing identity, including the reason for anonymity.
- We will avoid attributions like "key officials said"
and "informed sources said." Instead, as an example, an
unnamed source giving us information about a closed legislative
meeting might be described as "a participant and a supporter
of the bill."
- When you agree to shield a source, make sure he/she clearly
understands the ground rules. For example, if the source is lying
will you keep the promise of anonymity? Will you go to jail for
the source? Will the source come forward if you or the newspaper
is subpoenaed? What if the source later discloses the information
publicly?
- If you make a promise to shield a source, you must keep
it.
- We also want to avoid the use of anonymous people in routine
stories. As a general rule, such attributions as "an onlooker
said" do not belong in our newspaper. If someone refuses to
be identified, don't use the quote. This means interviewing more
people, but result will be a more believable story.
Types of Sources
On the record: The source's identity and information can
be used.
Not for attribution: A source provides information that
can be used in a story but the source cannot be identified. The
source and reporter must agree on this before the information is
shared.
Off the record: This information cannot be published and
the source's identity cannot be disclosed. Reporters can use the
information to develop other sources for the story without revealing
the off-the-record source.
Pre-publication Review
We encourage reporters to call sources to verify quotes or information.
For accuracy's sake, you may read back passages of a story. However,
we do not allow sources to approve stories for publication.
Racial
and Ethnic Identification
We identify someone's race or ethnicity only when it is important
to understanding the story.
Identify race evenly. Stories that deal with racial conflict or
identify people by race because that's the topic should identify
all the characters in the story by race.
Guiding Questions
- Is race or ethnic identity relevant? Can I explain the relevance
in the story?
- How will this information help readers understand this story?
- Am I stereotyping a race or ethnic group, or just catering to
some readers' idle curiosity?
Crime Stories
Two basic tenets of good journalism – accuracy and precision
– require us to identify a suspect's race only as part of
a detailed physical description.
A suspect's identifying information should exclude that suspect
from all but a narrow group of people. We should ask authorities
to provide more meaningful details.
Poor examples: "A 6-foot tall Hispanic man in his 20s";
"A 5-foot-8 black male of medium build." These vague descriptions
don't provide valuable information to help readers assist police.
Good example: "An olive-skinned male, 25 to 30 years old,
5 feet 7 inches, weighing 130 pounds, with thinning hair, wearing
blue jeans and a Dallas Cowboys hat and driving a black Caravan."
"Hispanic," "Latino" and "Filipino"
should never be used as a physical description. Those words describe
ethnicity – not color. Imagine describing someone as "Italian-looking"
or "Jewish-looking."
Guiding Question
- Is the physical description specific enough to help a reader identify
a suspect?
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