Too many errors, even if unrelated, can have a cumulative effect. Journalism can rapidly turn, even if unwittingly, into propaganda. One way of insuring against this is to devise ways of identifying what is wrong, and of preventing mistakes being repeated, as well as recognising good journalism and encouraging its practice. This means there is even greater reason for journalists to discuss issues surrounding the reporting of ethnic minorities, and to consider what actions to take to ensure all individuals and groups, whatever their cultures, are fairly represented. The emphasis is now firmly on newsroom decision-making, journalism practices and ethics.
Journalists properly remain vigorous in defence of their 'freedoms'.
They are suspicious of attempts by States, intergovernmental organisations and others outside journalism to either prescribe or proscribe for journalism. They may contain internal contradictions between the letter and the spirit of what they say. They certainly offer the opportunity to argue that each individual case is an exception to any rule, so that in the end there may be so many exceptions the rule becomes virtually useless. At the same time, in practice journalists in Europe appear to adhere to a broadly uniform sense of what is right and wrong in journalism. The ways in which journalists do their jobs and the kinds of objectives they pursue have much in common, despite otherwise enormous differences in cultural, political, social and economic circumstances.