Why I joined the effort to update the SPJ Ethics Code

Serving on a committee recommending updates to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics may be the most daunting job I have ever taken on.

Teaching can lead to some surreal moments for sure. But, as a professor who teaches young journalists about media ethics, watching the last few days of my first class at Washington and Lee University was particularly jarring.

I asked the students to take a case study I gave them and present it to the class, sorting through all the ethical questions involved to present their proposed solution. And I was so proud to see these smart, sharp aspiring reporters earnestly sort through sticky questions about editorial independence from police, the fairness of quoting someone who mistakenly talks to you not realizing you are a journalist, the appropriateness of sneaking into an area police prohibited you from entering and much more.

But then I thought about stories in the news on journalism as the class was ending. Olivia Nuzzi writing a book about an affair she had with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while she was covering the presidential race for New York magazine, only to see her ex-fiancee float allegations that she also had acted secretly as Kennedy’s press and strategy advisor. Emails revealed between journalist Michael Wolff and wealthy, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein showing how Wolff offered to coach him in managing press attention and his public image. Paramount hiring Bari Weiss to oversee CBS News despite her long history of advocacy for certain causes and complete lack of experience in TV news.

Small wonder so many people scoff when I’m telling them that I teach ethics to young journalists. Judging by these actions and others, it’s tough to make the case sometimes that major journalists and journalism institutions spend much time obeying ethical codes in the real world.

And yet, these examples can be misleading. There are thousands of journalists out there, in the trenches every day, observing ethical codes and using them to strengthen their work — and a strong sense of ethics absolutely CAN make good journalism better. But these journalists rarely get the attention that splashy, problematic figures do.

Which helps explain why I have joined an effort organized by the Society of Professional Journalists National Media Ethics Committee to review and recommend updates to the SPJ Code of Ethics, the world’s most-searched, most-cited and most-used journalism ethics code. READ it by clicking here.

The Code will mark its 100^th birthday next year and it was last revised in 2014. Since then, of course, the challenges to fair and accurate journalism have only grown – from the diminishing trust the general public has for journalists and news outlets, to the rise of misinformation and disinformation, questionable decisions made by owners of big media outlets and the unprecedented challenge posed by a president who unfairly attacks journalism and journalists regularly.

As the press release about our effort stated: “By the end of 2026, the committee aims to present its recommendations for consideration by SPJ’s board. If SPJ’s board approves the proposed Code changes, the Society’s members would also vote on them. The committee aims to update the Code’s interactive online version, too. It will include new links to resources offering supplementary guidance and ethics case studies. The committee is attempting to revise the SPJ Code of Ethics for the sixth time since 1926, when the Society first adopted the now-defunct American Society of News Editors’ Code of Ethics. SPJ revised its Code in 1973, 1984, 1987, 1996 and 2014.”

There’s lots of amazing people involved in this effort; you can read their names here. Consultants helping out the committee include Margaret Sullivan, Executive Director for the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia Journalism School, and Tom Rosenstiel, co-author of the influential media ethics book “Elements of Journalism.”

I’m also going to be involved with helping the Ethics Committee and SPJ draft public statements on issues involving journalism ethics, like this announcement asking the White House to take down its “Media Offenders” web page.

Over the next several months, we’re going to kick around ideas for how to sharpen and refine the ethics code. Here’s a few things I’m already thinking about (THESE IDEAS ARE SOLELY MY OWN, NOT THE COMMITTEE’S PERSPECTIVE):

Artificial Intelligence (of course): I would love to develop specific language and strategies for ethical codes and values linked to the use of AI in journalism. My sense is that there are loads of people in the industry trying to figure out how to use AI-centered tools to help journalism while maintaining accurate and fair reporting. The Code can be a significant tool in helping sort through those ideas.

Diversity as a journalism value: I have been saying for a long time that diversity in staffing, sourcing and coverage is about improving the accuracy of reporting – making sure journalists get the entire story and not just a select viewpoint. I’m hoping we can develop ideas to flesh out this point and deepen its perspective.

Ethical guidelines for opinion journalists: Too many modern media figures adopt the look and trappings of journalism to cultivate more credibility with their audiences, while abandoning actual journalism ethics when convenient. I hope we can provide guidance for opinion journalists who want to behave ethically, while also presenting a way for anyone to judge whether media figures slinging opinions are acting as journalists or something else.

Managing misinformation and disinformation: Social media, in particular, is flooded with information that is incorrect, deliberately misleading and worse, making it tough for everyone to find accurate reporting. I’m hoping we can find guidelines which help journalists and the general public sort through this material.

Handling politicians and public figures who brazenly lie: Yes, public figures have always lied to the press. But in the past, those figures were also constrained by a world which limited and punished those who seemed to be trafficking regularly in untruths. Those guardrails have loosened considerably, and journalists may need new techniques for handling the pronouncements of authority figures who regularly and insistently do not tell the truth.

I could go on. In fact, Margaret Sullivan did an excellent job gathering together stories on this issue for Columbia Journalism Review not long ago.

But I’m also interested in what you may think.

What concepts, values, issues or areas should we be considering as work goes forward to tweak the SPJ Ethics Code? In particular, are there changes which might help reverse the trust issues the public has with modern journalists and journalism?

Ideas rooted in specific suggestions and specific data would be most helpful. Sentences which start with “media always does X” or “you never do Y” are tough to address. And please bear in mind that we’re trying to offer practical suggestions for working journalists, in addition to big ideas and ambitious concepts.

This is a tough undertaking that could easily wind up pleasing no one. But, as someone who is trying to help young journalists navigate an increasingly challenging ethical landscape, I’m really hoping we wind up building something which can make their professional journeys a little bit easier.