Suggestions for formulating standards and workable policies

Michael Josephson emphasized the use of written standards by newspapers. Photo by Mark Regan

Participants at this week's API/ASNE editors forum agreed that solutions to newspaper ethical lapses lie in better leadership and management.

Ethicist Michael Josephson might have called that conclusion a platitude — something with which everybody will agree — were it not for specific measures that the participants recommended to help guard against future credibility debacles.

Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Marina Del Ray, California, argued that editors at every newspaper in the country, in order to lead effectively, need written standards giving specifics on principles, values, codes of conduct and procedures.

Moreover, these can "become a really meaningful part of a culture when they are USED, " he said.

Editors attending the Newsroom Reporting and Editing Standards forum broke into groups Tuesday to begin the process of formulating such standards and workable policies. Here are the highlights of their suggestions:

Establishing and enforcing standards:
» Collect and build off existing work. Involve the staff in the process. Create opportunities for them to talk with other newsrooms that have written standards. But remember, the top editor must "own " the policy.
» Get information from readers. Find out what matters to them, what perplexes them. Make it easy for them to complain. Be less defensive. Communicate your standards repeatedly.
» Make sure every employee knows the standards, understands them and accepts them. Make them part of new employee orientation. Set up regular staff discussions – at least annually.
» Decide what you want to accomplish – and get advice from your lawyer.
» Consider establishing citizen/journalist review boards.

Leadership, management, training and orientation:
» Create an environment of "speaking out, " one that encourages ethical lapses to be brought to the attention of top editors.
» Build leadership skills among line editors. Empower team leaders, assigning editors, copy editors and others to do the right thing. Provide resources. Share information throughout the organization.
» Set clear expectations and communicate goals for ethical behavior. Inspire the staff to live up to the best journalistic traditions.
» Set the tone for your newsroom. Live the values.

Diversity:
» Distinguish between making extra efforts with someone and giving special treatment.
» Don't be afraid to set high standards for all the staff.

Newspaper reporters as electronic media stars:
» Consider training sessions for reporters who appear on other media, helping them prepare for questions that could entice them to cross the line from news to commentary.
» On the other hand, newspaper columnists who become TV personalities are paid for expressing their opinions. Trouble can arise when they are handsomely paid for their TV appearances, threatening their loyalty to their newspaper and possibly compromising the newspaper's integrity. Strict guidelines and open and frequent communication are advised.

Accuracy, corrections and ombudsmen:
» Review policies that punish reporters who admit mistakes and want to make corrections to their stories. They may only encourage further deception. The goal is to have a newsroom that is eager to correct errors.
» Have a clearly stated corrections policy. Anchor it in the paper so readers can see it. Make it easy for readers to register a complaint.
» Conduct accuracy surveys with readers by sending out forms asking if their interviews/stories were properly presented.
» Appoint an ombudsman if you don't already have one. Somebody must take on the ombudsman role.
» Have a "tool kit " of forums, speakups, and advisory boards so you can have an ongoing exchange with the public about your standards for gathering and reporting the news.
» Consider the value of requiring reporters to read quotes back to sources before publication.

Sources and attribution.
» Remember: sources speak to the newspaper, not an individual reporter. Require reporters to disclose sources and information to editors, and coach reporters on how they can broach this disclosure with their sources so sources are not discouraged from talking.
» Be mindful that the narrative form creates questions of sourcing and attribution.
» Establish standards in your own newsroom about when and how datelines and bylines should be used.
» Ban anonymous quotes that denigrate (if you haven't already).
» Outline clearly what phrases such as "off the record " really mean – or better yet, use plain English to talk with sources about how their information will be used and attributed.