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Journalistic Codes of Ethics in Europe 203

common ones in the national codes (1: accountability to the public, 2: accountability
to the sources and referents, 5: protection of the journalists’ professional integrity).
All except one of the 24 principles common to more than half of the codes corre-
spond to these categories. They could thus go to make up a European code, which
could – and should – contain at least the following themes:

• Truthfulness in gathering and reporting information;
• Freedom of expression and comment, defence of these rights;
• Equality by not discriminating anyone on the basis of his or her race, ethni-
city or religion, sex, social class, profession, handicap or any other personal
characteristics;
• Fairness by using only straightforward means in the gathering of
information;
• Respect for the sources and referents and their integrity; for the copyright and
laws of citation;
• Independence/integrity by refusing bribes or any other outside influences on
the work, by demanding the conscience clause.

These themes represent the most common functions manifested in the national
codes of ethics. In addition, they are actually present in more than half of the
national codes. A common European code based on these themes should there-
fore be consistent with the values and norms of European journalists as expressed
in their respective codes of ethics.

Note

1. My thesis was supervised by Professor Kaarle Nordenstreng and Lecturer Ari Heinonen at
the University of Tampere, Finland. The topic was chosen whilst studying at the University
of Amsterdam (through ERASMUS student mobility programme) under Professor Denis
McQuail.

References

Alanen, Antti (1979) ‘Journalistien eettiset säännöt ja kansainvälinen oikeus’ (The International
Law and the Ethical Codes of Journalists), MA thesis, University of Tampere, Finland.
Bruun, Lars (ed.) (1979) Professional Codes in Journalism. Prague: International Organization of
Journalists.
Cooper, Thomas W. (1989) ‘Global Universals: In Search of a Common Ground’, pp. 20–39 in
T.W. Cooper et al. (eds), Communication Ethics and Global Change. New York: Longman.
Council of Europe (1993) ‘The Ethics of Journalism’, report of the Committee on Culture and
Education, Strasbourg.
Harris, Nigel G.E. (1992) ‘Codes of Conduct for Journalists’, pp. 62–76 in A. Belsey and
R. Chadwick (eds), Ethical Issues in Journalism and Media. London: Routledge.
Heinonen, Ari (1995) Vahtikoiran Omatunto. Journalismin itsesäätely ja toimittajat (The Conscience
of a Watchdog. Self-regulation of Journalism and Journalists). Tampere: University of
Tampere.