Integrity, honesty, fairness and compassion direct my work and personal life. My goal is 100% accuracy with historical and societal context provided through diligent and unbiased research, utilizing vetted resources. I believe in accountability, transparency and independence in reporting and in life.
Trauma-informed and compassionate writing is very important to me. That is not to say that I believe in being soft on hard news or going easy on corruption, traumatic situations or any other form of news; rather, I want to protect victims and audiences alike by remaining aware of potential triggers while also reporting accurately and completely. Sensationalizing news and causing additional, unnecessary trauma to audiences in order to attract a larger audience is harmful and unethical. I believe that more journalists should consider the harm caused to all parties before publishing information that could traumatize or otherwise hurt sources, subjects or audiences.
I avoid conflicts of interest and, when necessary, disclose prior engagements or conflicts and avoid covering those subjects as much as possible. I do not accept gifts from sources, and as a music reviewer, I only accepted advance digital copies of music when it was absolutely necessary. I accepted media passes to concerts that I reviewed, but I did not accept free tickets to concerts for personal use. I also do not pay for information or for sources. Moreover, when I interact with advertisers, I ensure that advertisements are clearly marked and distinguished from news or review coverage, and I do not allow advertisers to dictate anything on the editorial side.
Finally, I support honesty, openness and transparency within media organizations. I believe that increasing the amount of information that media organizations share about their practices will only increase the public’s trust in the media, and explaining difficult ethical situations to audiences can help readers empathize and understand the newspaper’s decisions.
I hold myself and my colleagues accountable to this code of ethics, and I strive to constantly develop a better, more comprehensive set of ethical standards for myself and others.
Abby Jeffers 