Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice. Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social sum. . . . . .
Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.
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. Sigma Delta Chi's first Code of Ethics was borrowed from the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1926. In 1973, Sigma Delta Chi wrote its own code, which was revised in 1984 and 1987.