[Imc] Example of Mission Statement

[Mike Lehman]

This is from the Committee of Concerned Journalists website:
<http://www.journalism.org/ccj/index.html>

The bullet points might be a better place for us to start with our
discussion of this issue. The document below seems to be primarily
oriented toward the modern, US model of profit-oriented, mainstream
journalism that posits the theory of a "free market" form of mass
communications.

Maybe that's not where we want to be, but this document offers a useful
starting point for discussion of where we are the same as that type of
journalist and where we are different from that type of journalist.
Mike Lehman

STATEMENT OF SHARED PRINCIPLES

After extended examination by journalists themselves of the character of
journalism at the end of the twentieth century, we offer this common
understanding of what defines our work. 

The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate
and reliable information they need to function in a free society. 

This encompasses myriad roles--helping define community, creating common
language and common knowledge, identifying a community's goals, heros
and villains, and pushing people beyond complacency. This purpose also
involves other requirements, such as being entertaining, serving as
watchdog and offering voice to the voiceless. 

Over time journalists have developed nine core principles to meet the
task. They comprise what might be described as the theory of journalism: 

1) The First Obligation Of Journalism Is To the Truth

Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a
meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or
philosophical sense, but it can--and must--pursue it in a practical
sense. This "journalistic truth" is a process that begins with the
professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then
journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning,
valid for now, subject to further investigation. Journalists should be
as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can
make their own assessment of the information. Even in a world of
expanding voices, accuracy is the foundation upon which everything else
is built--context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and
debate.

The truth, over time, emerges from this forum. As citizens encounter an
ever greater flow of data, they have more need--not less--for
identifiable sources dedicated to verifying that information and putting
it in context. 

2) Serve Citizens and the Public Interest First 

While news organizations answer to many constituencies, including
advertisers and shareholders, the journalists in those organizations
must maintain allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest
above any other if they are to provide the news without fear or favor.
This commitment to citizens first is the basis of a news organization's
credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage
is not slanted for friends or advertisers. Commitment to citizens also
means journalism should present a representative picture of all
constituent groups in society. Ignoring certain citizens has the effect
of disenfranchising them. The theory underlying the modern news industry
has been the belief that credibility builds a broad and loyal audience,
and that economic success follows in turn. In that regard, the business
people in a news organization also must nurture--not exploit--their
allegiance to the audience ahead of other considerations. 

3) Monitor the Powerful and Offer Voice to the Voiceless 

Journalism has an unusual capacity to serve as watchdog over those whose
power and position most affect citizens. The Founders recognized this to
be a rampart against despotism when they ensured an independent press;
courts have affirmed it; citizens rely on it. As journalists, we have an
obligation to protect this watchdog freedom by not demeaning it in
frivolous use or exploiting it for commercial gain. 

4) Provide Society a Forum for Comment, Criticism and Compromise 

The news media are the common carriers of public discussion, and this
responsibility forms a basis for our special privileges. This discussion
serves society best when it is informed by facts rather than prejudice
and supposition. It also should strive to fairly represent the varied
viewpoints and interests in society, and to place them in context rather
than highlight only the conflicting fringes of debate. Accuracy and
truthfulness require that as framers of the public discussion we not
neglect the points of common ground where problem solving occurs.

5) Employ an Ethical Method of Verification 

Journalists rely on a professional discipline for verifying information.
When the concept of objectivity originally evolved, it did not imply
that journalists are free of bias. It called, rather, for a consistent
method of testing information--a transparent approach to
evidence--precisely so that personal and cultural biases would not
undermine the accuracy of their work. The
method is objective, not the journalist. Seeking out multiple witnesses,
disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides
for comment, all signal such standards. This discipline of verification
is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as
propaganda, fiction or entertainment. But the need for professional
method is
not always fully recognized or refined. While journalism has developed
various techniques for determining facts, for instance, it has done less
to develop a system for testing the reliability of journalistic
interpretation. 

6) Maintain Independence from Faction 

Independence is an underlying requirement of journalism, a cornerstone
of its reliability. Independence of spirit and mind, rather than
neutrality, is the principle journalists must keep in focus. While
editorialists and commentators are not neutral, the source of their
credibility is still their accuracy, intellectual fairness and ability
to inform--not their devotion to a certain group or outcome. In our
independence, however, we must avoid any tendency to stray into
arrogance, elitism, isolation or nihilism. 

7) Make the News Engaging and Relevant 

Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It should do more than gather
an audience or catalogue the important. For its own survival, it must
balance what readers know they want with what they cannot anticipate but
need. In short, it must strive to make the significant interesting and
relevant. Quality is measured both by how much a work engages its
audience and enlightens it. This means journalists must continually ask
what information has most value to citizens and in what form. While
journalism should reach beyond such topics as government and public
safety, a journalism overwhelmed by trivia and false significance
ultimately engenders a trivial society. 

8) Keep News Comprehensive and Proportional 

Keeping news in proportion and not leaving important things out are also
cornerstones of truthfulness. Journalism is a form of cartography: it
creates a map for citizens to navigate society. Inflating events for
sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately
negative all make a less reliable map. The map also should include news
of all our communities, not just those with attractive demographics.
This is best achieved by newsrooms with a diversity of backgrounds and
perspectives. The map is only an analogy; proportion and
comprehensiveness are subjective, yet their elusiveness does not lesson
their significance. 

9) Remain True to Personal Conscience 

Every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and
responsibility--a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if fairness
and accuracy require, to voice differences with our colleagues, whether
in the newsroom or the executive suite. News organizations do well to
nurture this independence by encouraging individuals to speak their
minds. This stimulates the intellectual diversity necessary to
understand and accurately cover an increasingly diverse society. It is
this diversity of minds and voices, not just numbers, that matters.