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16. Special consideration in reporting crimes, accidents, etc. (VI) 61 (19)
17. Checking the facts and the sources (I) 58 (18)
18. Prohibition of slander, libel, unfounded accusations (V) 58 (18)
19. Presumption of innocence (VI) 58 (18)
20. Conscience clause (XI) 58 (18)
21. Separation of advertisements and editorial material (XI) 58 (18)
22. Responsibility over everything reported (IV) 55 (17)
23. Right to free criticism (IX) 52 (16)
24. Fight against censorship (X) 52 (16)
Occasions 31: 100%

Thus the most common principles in the European codes emphasize different
aspects of truthfulness, the need to protect the integrity and independence of
journalists, the responsibility of journalists in forming public opinion, fair means
in the gathering and presentation of information, protection of the rights of
sources and referents, and the freedom to express and communicate ideas and
information without hindrance.
These most common themes of the codes correspond well with the earlier
studies on codes of ethics in an international perspective. Thomas W. Cooper
(1989) distinguishes between three major areas of worldwide concern within the
field of media ethics. First, the ‘quest for truth’ appears, according to him, in all
the written codes in the world in one form or another. The second common to
them all is the ‘desire for responsibility’ among communicators: the need for
accountability and justice in reporting. The third common area Cooper finds is
the ‘call for free expression’: the demand that information is allowed to flow free
from censorship or other outside pressure (Cooper, 1989: 20–1).
Lars Bruun (1979) and J. Clement Jones (1980) also find themes such as truth-
fulness and objectivity, professional integrity and integrity of the source, as well
as equality (prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, etc.) to be the most
common among the different codes of ethics around the world (Bruun, 1979:
27–45; Jones, 1980: 52–3). [...]

The adopters and contents of the codes

One could imagine that the codes adopted exclusively by the journalists them-
selves would put more emphasis on the protection and the rights of the journal-
ists than the other codes. It could also be assumed that in the codes adopted by
the publishers and journalists in conjunction, the principles regarding account-
ability to the employers would be stressed more than in other codes. And as for
the codes adopted by the press councils, it should be the principles stressing the
rights of the public and sources which receive greatest emphasis, due to the func-
tion of the press councils in dealing with complaints from the public.
However, there does not seem to be any clear connection between the adopt-
ing bodies and the contents of the codes. Only the codes adopted by press coun-
cils seem to correlate with their adopters: all five codes (the Austrian, British II,