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December 16th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: Will Park Closure Just Make Things Worse?
November 29th, 2008

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October 30th, 2008

Editorial: Is the Sky Falling?
September 24th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: Who Reads Cedar Key News?
September 19th, 2008

Editorial: The First Hurdle for Every Child
September 3rd, 2008

Editorial: A View of China from Cedar Key
August 18th, 2008

Editorial: Who Killed the Real Estate Market?
August 8th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: It`s Clamerica!
July 1st, 2008

Editorial: Can the City Commission Limit Noise?
June 6th, 2008

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May 29th, 2008

Editorial: Creeping Gas Prices
May 13th, 2008

Editorial: Cedar Key Election Soon
April 30th, 2008

Editorial: Questions fo the Candidates
April 2nd, 2008

Editorial: Coming Elections: National County and City
March 19th, 2008

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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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