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Journalistic Codes of Ethics in Europe 197

Function 5: 23% Function 6: 9%

Function 4: 4%

Function 3: 2%

Function 1: 40%
Function 2: 22%

FUNCTION 1: Showing accountability to the public
FUNCTION 2: Showing accountability to the sources and referents
FUNCTION 3: Showing accountability to the state
FUNCTION 4: Showing accountability to the employers
FUNCTION 5: Protecting journalists' professional integrity
FUNCTION 6: Protecting the status and unity of the profession
FIGURE 15.3 THE FUNCTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN CODES

functions of the European codes are: accountability to the public (function 1), account-
ability to the sources and the referents (function 2) and the protection of journalists’
professional integrity (function 5). The principles corresponding to these three func-
tions cover 85 percent of all the principles in the national codes studied.
Most of the national codes examined stay in this division of three more or
three less common functions. Only in the codes of Bulgaria, France, Hungary
and Iceland is the emphasis among the functions clearly different. The
Bulgarian, French and Hungarian codes differ by putting more emphasis on pro-
tection of the status and unity of journalism (function 6) than on protection of the
integrity of the profession (function 5). In the Icelandic code the principles
answering to functions 1, 5 and 6 get equal emphasis; more than the sources and
referents (function 2). All these differences ‘get crooked’ into the direction of
function 6, none of the national codes emphasizing functions 3 or 4. The general
coverage of the six functions is illustrated in Figure 15.3.
As Figure 15.3 shows, most of the national codes place a clear emphasis on the
principles showing accountability to the different regulatory groups of journalism.
Functions 1–4 cover 67 percent of all the principles of the 31 national codes studied,
whereas the principles stressing the protection of journalists’ professional identity
(see the two main functions of the codes) get only 33 percent coverage.
This shows – at least in principle – that the European journalists mainly
base their professional activities on their accountability to the public and to other
regulatory groups. This could mean that if/when journalism is accused of