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As newspaper journalists we have a code we strive to live and work by It's called the elements of Journalism: ... • 1 Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth. • 2 Its first loyalty is to citizens. • 3 Its essence is a discipline of verification. • 4 Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover. • 5 It must serve as an independent monitor of power. • 6 It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise. • 7 It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant. • 8 It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional. • 9 Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience. That Means: * 1 We seek the truth readily and often. * 2 We put you, the reader, first. * 3 We check and recheck the facts. * 4 We report the news without bias or influence from others. * 5 We are the watchdog of the government. We keep them honest as we report what you, the citizen, have a right to know about your elected officials. * 6 We provide a place for your voice to be heard... to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Even if your beef is with us, we provide the forum for your concern to be heard. * 7 Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It should do more than gather an audience or catalogue the important. For its own survival, it must balance what readers know they want with what they cannot anticipate but need. - Source www.journalism.org * 8 We try to cover what you need to know and not just what is gossip worthy. Keeping news in proportion and not leaving important things out are cornerstones of truthfulness. Journalism is a form of cartography: it creates a map for citizens to navigate society. Inflating events for sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative all make a less reliable map. - Source www.journalism.org * 9 The truth is our goal, and we strive to report it to the best of our ability. Every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility--a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if fairness and accuracy require, to voice differences with our colleagues, whether in the newsroom or the executive suite. - Source www.journalism.org Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. See More