All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards. The InTheBaltic Code sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public’s right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of self-regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment. It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material.
Accuracy
1) The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures;
2) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and – where appropriate – an apology published.
3) The press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact;
4) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published; Opportunity to reply A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for;
Privacy
1) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications;
2) Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual’s private life without consent. The account will be taken of the complainant’s public disclosures of information;
3) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in private places without their consent. Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy;
Harassment
1) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit;
2) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them. If requested, they must identify themselves and whom they represent;
3) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources;
Intrusion into grief or shock
1) In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion, and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.
2) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.
Children
1) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion;
2) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents;
3) Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities;
4) Minors must not be paid for material involving children’s welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child’s interest;
5) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life;
Children in sex cases
1) The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences;
2) In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child;
3) The child must not be identified;
4) The adult may be identified;
5) The word “incest” must not be used where a child victim might be identified;.
6) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child;
Hospitals
1) Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries;
2) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions;
Reporting of Crime
1) Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of a crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story;
2) Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings;
Clandestine devices and subterfuge
1) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent;
2) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means;
Victims of sexual assault
The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification, and they are legally free to do so;
Discrimination
1) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual’s race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability;
2) Details of an individual’s race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story;
Financial journalism
1) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others;
2) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor;
3) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future;
Confidential sources
Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information;
