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Journalists' Ethical Code
Association of Hungarian Journalists
Journalists' Ethical Code
The Journalists' Ethical
Code was accepted by the National Association of Hungarian
Journalists (MUOSZ) in 1994.
Its objective is to preserve
and promote ethical and honest journalists' activities within
the framework of human rights, democratic public life and
the constitutional state. The Code is compulsory for the members
of MUOSZ, and the Association suggests its application and
the observance of its norms even outside the group of members
of the Association. Cases of legal dispute shall primarily
fall within the competence of courts and other legal forums,
but they might leave ethical relations as well to which the
rules of the Code shall apply.
SCOPE OF THE CODE
Section 1
1. The regulations concerning
conduct shall apply to all persons undertaking journalistic
or editorial activities. The scope of the Code shall cover
the individual and collective information supplying activity
performed in the field of printed (written and photographic)
and electronic press.
2. In the course of ethical
procedures, the responsibility of the head in charge of the
editorial staff shall also be investigated and established.
3. The Ethical Committee may
establish the breach of the rules of journalists' conduct
even in the case of a non-MUOSZ member, and may make this
fact public.
FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY OF JOURNALISTS
Section 2
1. Journalists have the right
to obtain information, to publish, and to criticize. Journalists
must respect the constitutional order of Hungary. They must
not violate human rights, incite hate and the infringement
of lawful rights against peoples, nations, nationalities,
denominations and races, spread libels regarding thereof,
and disparage anybody due to his belonging thereto.
2. Journalists shall act with
special care in matters concerning human rights, human personality
and dignity and the good reputation of private individuals
and legal entities.
3. Journalists are obliged
to
a)
keep the rules of cultured human relations with the organizations
and persons that provide information, and with the subjects
of a written report (programme, etc.);
b)
to check the facts and data, and to publish them in a manner
which is faithful to the facts;
c)
respect the copyrights of others, including the journalists
working with them;
d)
fully deal with the criticism and complaints of others who
turn to them in matters concerning the newspaper or the programme,
etc., and to arrange their matters and complaints conscientiously.
4. If a journalist presents
a phenomenon faithfully, he may not be condemned because he
failed to deal with another phenomenon.
5. Journalists also have the
right to opinion and conviction, and to the expression thereof.
They may, however, not suggest that their opinion is the opinion
of the employer-editorial staff or the official circles.
VIOLATION OF THE REGULATIONS CONCERNING CONDUCT
Section 3
In addition to the violation
of the norms defined in Section 2, the following shall also
mean the violation of certain regulations of journalists'
conduct.
1. It violates faithful and
correct information, if a journalist or a senior editor
a
) stages untruth in a written report, or a programme intentionally,
or due to his superficiality, or if he hinders to reveal the
truth;
b)
influence in any way his colleagues work with the aims of
a) above, delays or renders the uncovering of reality more
difficult and holds back rapid information flow;
c)
demands or accepts direct or indirect financial benefit
for
concealing or reporting the facts in a given subject;
d)
fails to take care of, delays, hinders or refuses voluntary
and accurate correction despite a lawful request;
e)
intentionally hinders the publishing of the obligatory
correction
as has been passed by a judge, or in the case of publication
he amends the text, or adds his own comments.
2. He abuses the information
that is specifically not intended for publication on the demand
of the source.
3. He abuses copyright, if
he
a)
publishes or attempts to publish others' work (intellectual
product) as if it was his work (plagiarism);
b)
he quotes from other persons' work (intellectual product)
in such a way that he distorts the original sense of the text,
publishing distortion as reality, or willfully indicates another
person, as author;
c)
publishes as his own a topic considered as original - researched
and published by someone else - without reference to the origin;
d)
hands over his work for publishing to two or more publishers
at the same time - without indicating this fact - or hands
over an already published work and does not draw the attention
of the second publisher to this fact;
e)
publishes a work without the consent of the author, or puts
it into an unworthy surrounding (composition of pictures),
or a surrounding different from the previous agreement, without
the consent of the author.
4. He contravenes the rights
and dignity of a personality, if he
a)
declares or spreads rumours of an untruth which is suitable
to infringe the good reputation and honour of the subject,
or he uses an offensive expression;
b)
condemns any person in a recognizable manner, without a
reason,
either without using a name, or using a false name;
c)
presents guiltiness as a final fact in a court case which
has not been conducted yet;
d)
presents the subject of his report, or his statements (in
context or in pictures) in a manner that he infringes the
subject's good reputation and other rights related to his
person without a reason;
e)
reveals the informant without his consent;
f)
abuses a statement, interview, report, i.e.
does
not show the subject the statement despite his request, and/or
disregards his withdrawal; carries out major changes in the
text without the consent of the subject, or disregards the
request of the subject for context changes, and publishes,
or arranges the publication of the report in this manner;
indicates
something in the statement or opinion of the subject (subject
of a report) that the subject did not say to the journalist;
publishes
the statement of a person of whom he knows that he is unable
to judge the importance and the consequences of his statement.
VIOLATION OF THE FREEDOM OF DEBATE AND CRITICISM
Section 4
A journalist also violates
the regulations concerning conduct, if he
1. attacks his debate opponent
in a press debate, violating his personality rights;
2. expresses his opinion in
such a way that he does not introduce his debate opponent's
point of view accurately;
3. damages other journalists'
credibility in order to avenge criticism.
ABUSE OF JOURNALIST'S FREEDOM
Section 5
1. A journalist abuses his
profession, if he
a)
mentions his personal matter as a public affair in the interest
of his own benefit;
b)
threatens with publishing or not publishing the work in the
press, for the purpose of unlawful benefit.
2. A journalist commits an
ethical offence if he uses the information possibilities available
to him in the interest of obtaining direct or indirect personal
benefits and promoting products, services and firms in a manner
exceeding the requirements of objective news service, or damaging
their credibility.
3. Also in the case of direct
and indirect advertising activities performed through commission,
or within the framework of employment, the participating journalist
shall act in such a way that the advertising character of
his activity is obvious for the reader, viewer or listener.
OTHER CASES OF ETHICAL OFFENCE
Section 6
Besides the pervious Sections,
a journalist commits an ethical offence, if he
a)
damages the prestige of the profession by his conduct, irrespective
of the legal consequences;
b)
in the case of identical names, he does not use a distinctive
(different) name or mark, even if requested by an author who
started his career earlier.
DECISIONS OF THE ETHICAL COMMITTEE
Section 7
1. The Ethical Committee is
a social body of honour. The primary endeavour of the Committee
is not to punish, but to bring opposite sides to an understanding,
to search for an agreement, to appease and to satisfy the
respective partners.
2. The Ethical Committee shall
provide protection for MUOSZ members, following the procedure
conducted upon their request, in the case of any unjust attack
related to their work.
3. In the case of breaking
the Code, the Ethical Committee
a)
may take the following measures:
-
satisfaction (apology, perhaps mutually) only with the acknowledgement
of the minutes;
-
public satisfaction in the professional press, and/or reconciled
satisfaction in the concerned newspapers and means of information;
-
initiation of holding responsible (in the editorial office
or at another competent organ);
b)
may impose the following punishments;
-
warning,
- censure,
- strict censure,
- suspension of membership rights for not more than one year,
- exclusion.
4. The Ethical Committee may
publish its decisions and viewpoints in the manner and within
the group it considers necessary, and thus it may interpret
certain rules of the Code on the basis of practice.
5. In the case of a non-appealable
exclusion, the concerned member may lodge a complaint with
the Board of MUOSZ.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Section 8
1. The Ethical Committee may
institute a procedure on its own initiative, or on complaint.
2. If the breach of the rule
of conduct shall be simultaneously considered a crime, an
offence, or a disciplinary offence, and because of this a
procedure has been instituted against whom the complaint has
been lodged, this is not considered an obstacle to conducting
the ethical procedure, however - in a justified case - the
ethical procedure may be suspended until a non-appealable
decision is made.
Section 9
The Journalists' Ethical Code is approved, may be changed or repealed by the General Meeting of MUOSZ, while the ethical procedural rules by the Ethical Committee.
