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Editorial: Independence Day
July 2nd, 2006

Editorial: Once Again...
June 25th, 2006

Editorial: Home Ownership
June 24th, 2006

Editorial: Mosquito Control in Cedar Key
May 11th, 2006

Editorial: Will Gas Prices Go Up?
April 30th, 2006

Editorial: Tree Ordinance Violations
April 26th, 2006

Editorial: Why Worry about Global Warming?
April 21st, 2006

Editorial: The Purpose of Government?
March 23rd, 2006

Editorial: Air Boat Regatta, Guests or Pests?
January 29th, 2006

Editorial: The East-West Management Plan
December 21st, 2005

Editorial: Water, Water, Water
December 13th, 2005

Editorial: Bad News for Print News, Good for Online
November 14th, 2005

Editorial: A Bad Tradition
November 10th, 2005

Editorial: For the Birds
October 17th, 2005

Editorial: If It Killed the River....
October 4th, 2005

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The Responsiblities of a Journalist

The Responsiblities of a Journalist

Editorial

Journalism is a new profession when compared to Medicine, Law and even Mortuary Science. Unlike doctors and many other professionals, journalists are protected from government control by the Constitution of the United States, First Amendment.


For thousands of years doctor have taken the Hippocratic Oath, and lawyers have a Cannon of Ethics. Doctors and lawyers and many other professionals subscribe to self-policing. And government forces add teeth to such housecleaning. But journalists, except for laws against libel, depend on professional ethics to limit their behavior.


Cedar Key High School offers a course in Journalism. The textbook used by the students devotes thirty-one pages to "Meeting Ethical and Legal Responsibilities." The textbook presents the Society of Professional Journalists` Code of Ethics, which is covered in four sections, namely, Seek the Truth and Publish It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, and Be Accountable.


The last section may be the one most often overlooked. To be accountable journalist should:


* Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialogue with the public over journalistic conduct.


* Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.


* Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.


* Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.


* Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.


We invite our readers to use the Speak Out or Letters to the Editor to remind us if Cedar Key News fails to observe those ethical standards.

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