In a work of literary journalism, truth is in many cases derived from the reporter's unauthorized experience, or from the experience and observation of individuals representing no authority but that which they have over their own private lives. This truth is individualized, set apart from the collective narrative. It is more subject to question. The rules are signifiers, guides that a reader can use in evaluating the truthfulness of a piece of news. The attempt to define a code of ethics is really an attempt to create signifiers, to define the triangular relationship of reader to writer to perceived truth.
Signifiers are rules of the game.
A central rule of the game of literary journalism should be full disclosure. For the reader to be able to trust what he or she reads, that reader needs to be let in on the process. Recreation of experiences and events not directly observed requires this sort of treatment. Similarly, the use of a third-person voice, where the reporter recounts thoughts and feelings that a source described in an interview, requires that the reader be informed as to how the reporter came by that information. A composite character should be named, described, or defined in such a way that the average reader would be able to recognize that the character was indeed a composite, preferably with a direct statement.