Examples of Ethical Standards and Professional Values
Look for journalistic standards of reporting. High-quality, investigative news sources have explicit editorial policies and follow a code of ethics or professional standards. Example: Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics.
Does the news source you are using have an explicit Editorial Policy?
Does it follow a Code of Ethics?
Lack of an explicit editorial policy or a statement of ethical standards is a red flag indicating suspect content.
Specific examples of editorial guidelines and standards of journalistic practice:
- BBC Editorial Guidelines
- The Guardian News & Media Editorial Code
- New York Times Standards and Ethics
- NPR [National Public Radio] Ethics Handbook
Accountable sources issue corrections for errors and inaccuracies they subsequently discover. Fake news sources are not accountable for their content. Fake news creates or uses content that is partially fabricated or contain misleading information as well as outright falsehoods.