Principles of Reporting

NAI Newsmedia Association of India has adopted a code of ethics in collaboration with its Citizen reporters of NAI members. In essence, the subjects covered include research, personal rights, truthful reporting and the separation of editorial content and advertisements.

The Association’s use of this code aims to sensitize every member to ethical problems to a greater degree. The NAI code of ethics has been developed in such a way to make it binding for every member personally, regardless of which medium is being used.

Preamble

The goal of the code of ethics is to clarify to every citizen reporters and Members his responsibility to media consumers and to appeal to his obligation to report professional and well-founded news.

Measures are taken against anyone who violates the ethics code. These measures range from a warning to expulsion from the association. The NAI does not aim to overly regulate its members with this code; it is meant to serve as an aid in decision making and a guideline for answering ethical questions which journalists are continually confronted with. Disputes regarding press law can be avoided by the use of this code.

1 – Principles of reporting

  1. Free media plays an important role in the preservation of democratic society – all over the world. It fulfills a central societal function and contributes to the process of forming public opinion. To do justice to this duty, Citizen Reporters and Professional journalists often have special authorization to conduct research.  

  2. Reporting serves to spread information and must be done truthfully. A Citizen Reporters and Professional journalist’s personal judgments must be clearly recognizable as such.

  3. People or organizations affected by news coverage must have the chance to comment on possible accusations before they are published.

  4. If, despite conscientious research, a mistake is made, the journalist must point it out and correct it immediately and without being asked.

  5. The NAI does not approve of sensationalistic reporting in which lurid descriptions of violence, catastrophes, personal tragedies or sexuality are included at the expense of accurateness and objectivity.

  6. If a journalist prints rumors which cannot be verified, these must be clearly recognizable as such.

  7. Particular care has to be taken with sensitive topics such as trials. Naming suspects is only permitted in exceptional cases.

  8. Descriptions of medical innovations should be described so unemotionally that patients don’t get false hope when reading them.  

  9. Particular care must also be taken with topics regarding capital markets and financial products.

  10. Members of the NAI respect personal rights and balance their protection with the public interest, even when this interest is justifiable.