My Personal Code

Candace Burr
Personal Code of Conduct
Comms 239- Cressman
11.19.009

Candace Burr’s Personal Code of Conduct
My understanding of journalism has been drastically fine tuned by participating in the principles of journalism course. The high standard of peer commentary in class discussions has given me a better idea of who I want to be as a journalist in the future. It has helped me decide what behavior I want to have in the workplace, and what standard of excellence I will hold my work to. I have been able to mold a concrete concept of behavior I will expect from myself in my future professional endeavors.
First, I would like to articulate my understanding of journalism as a profession, so I can create a basis for my code of conduct. I believe journalism is one of the most important professions practiced today. Journalists are information gatherers and distributors. They help people become more aware of each other and of events. Information helps people maintain the good situations in their lives, or it creates an atmosphere of urgency to change for the better.
My feelings about journalism mirror those of Mr. Walter Cronkite, when he says, “The secret to our past success as a nation may be traced to the fact that we have been a free people, free to discuss ideas and alternatives, free to teach and learn, free to report and hear.” I agree with Mr. Cronkite that a free press that allows journalism to flourish is at the center of a functioning free society, a free market economy, and a democratic government. Restricting transmissions of or poorly communicating events perpetuates bad ideas and bad decisions for a nation, and for individuals.
As a future journalist, I want to keep this pure idea of journalism in mind. I want to be able to change people’s tainted view of journalism. I want the citizens to be grateful for the information they receive, and I want those in power to have a respectful fear for the monitoring of power that journalism fulfills. I want the profession to be revered, and not scoffed at. To do this, journalism must be practiced in an honest and open way. I want to stay true to the democratic duty I have as reporting citizen in this free society. I will try to accomplish this by:
(a) Always performing complete, in depth and accurate research. As a beginning reporter I already realize how easy it is to “take the easy story”. I have found myself going to newspapers or watching the AP wires for interesting news breaks. As a future reporter, however, I want to be creative enough to find my own stories the majority of time. My code of conduct will embrace my own original work.
(b) Following a personal moral compass. Although my moral compass may have different standards than other people I happen to work with, I feel that it is more important to stay true to yourself, than sacrifice what you know is right for money, fame, or the fear of losing your job. I will, as a future professional, choose my “reporting battles” carefully, and realize when it is time to take a stand on something I feel is not appropriate or helpful for the citizens I am responsible to.
(c) Reporting with loyalty to the audience. After learning about audiences, and the duty reporters have in reporting news specific to the interests of their audience, I realize I want to be able to make that distinction as a future professional. I will always try to report relevant information that will help the people I am responsible to make important life decisions. I will try to keep my interest from overtaking my work. I will always search for stories that will affect my audience, and not for stories that I selfishly want to cover for personal reasons.
(d) Remaining loyal to the station. As a reporter, or professional in the communications field, I will always strive to report news that pertains to my audience. However, I will also try to remember that I am an employee for a business, and that I am responsible to a larger entity. I will always live up to station policies, and produce work that is original, and personal, while still fitting the mold of the station ideal. I will produce work that will bring a positive light and reputation to the company I work for, and I will conduct myself in a way that presents the company in a positive public light.
(e) Steer clear of sensational reporting. Reporting celebrity news, or entertainment related news may be easy, and interesting, but it does not inform audiences of important life changing events. As a reporter, I will always try to report heavy, hard news, and report feature or soft news on topics that are truly important to the audience. I will always steer clear of entertainment reporting if I am reporting for a serious news organization.
(f) Keep work relationships professional. In the broadcast industry, reporters work extremely long hours, and develop close relationships with the people they spend the long hours with. Making friends is part of the job, but as a reporter I will always keep those relationships at strict friendship level.
On top of keeping appropriate colleague boundaries, I will always try not to talk negatively about fellow co-workers. I will always try to give credit where credit is due, and keep my negative opinions to myself, or express them to my employer, or boss in a private setting.

By holding myself to these journalism standards, I feel that I will be able to have a successful and fulfilling professional career. It is important to set standards before situations occur, because I know they will.
My career objective will be to improve the practice of journalism. As I practice in a professional manner, I hope that my example will inspire my co-workers to also practice honestly and excellently. Hopefully I will be able to, in a small way, improve society’s view of journalism and improve people’s understanding of the world.
I think that success in any workplace with any person comes by having a well-balanced life. Commitment to working hard and developing a respected career is very important to me, as long as I am not placing an unbalanced importance on career versus other parts of life. So, in my code of conduct I would like to include a section on my hopes for my life in general. I hope that my personal life, family, husband, and religion will bring me fulfillment that I can translate to others through my work.
I hope that I can teach and inform audiences, and as a professional I would like my occupation to teach me and inform me through my time in the field. I want to be able to learn more about the world and myself every day. I want to meet new people, and learn about the way they see the world. I want to always have an eye for the compelling story, and an attitude that cares about individuals more than me or my career. This will be possible through the exciting, spontaneous experiences that reporting presents for me, and by dedicating myself to the behaviors I have spoken about. Overall, I will strive to bring praise and respect back to the practice of journalism.