Ethics are important to journalists because they need to know whats right and whats wrong. If they do not follow the code of ethics someones not going to like it and it will give all journalists a bad name, and if journalists have a bad name no one is going to want to be interviewed or get a story done about themselves.
The general rules that the journalists follow are displayed on this website, http://www.caj.ca/?p=20
Journalists create articles and stories that people want to read, these stories inform, expose, examine, etc. Journalists do not need to tell everything they know, but they still need to make it a fair story and tell the truth. There is usually some sort of slant or spin in a stories. Not all journalists are neutral therefore there is going to be some omission in the story, omission is a huge part of journalism.
A journalist should always tell the subject what the story they are writing is about. It is very important to respect your subject. If journalists start to disrespect there subjects no one is going to want a story done about them because they do not know if they should believe the journalist that is writing the story.
There is always boundaries for what journalist should report on. Journalists always need to remember the statement of principles, (http://www.caj.ca/?p=20). If a story is questionable, and the statement of principles do not agree with your story, you should not be writing the story, or say something in the story so there is no questions. For an example, if you are writing a story about something, and you are suppose to have a picture with your story but the only pictures you have are graphic or someone doesn't want the pictures in the story, it is not fair to put them in the story.
Journalists should not get attached to the person they are reporting on. If they get in a really close relationship it may raise ethical issues, such as the journalist's story isn't fair because they are trying to make the person they are interviewing look good. Also, a journalist should never mislead there subject and lie to them, it is not right to tell them you are on there side and that you love them, then turn the story around and make the subject look bad and do the things you said you wouldn't.
What if you are told to interview someone really good looking? Does that count as attatched, because you still might have a bias toward thems right? How do we avoid all bias in the media?
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