Preamble: This Charter is based on the IFJ Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists (adopted at the 30th IFJ World Congress in Tunis on 12 June 2019) and was adjusted to reflect aims and Editorial and Content Strategy of PulseZ. The following principles are therefore an essential tool for maintaining content quality within PulseZ. They shall be followed by all journalists and other media makers whose content is to be published on platforms of PulseZ: Experienced journalists, Aspiring journalists, and Community contributors, hereinafter referred to as Authors.
1. The Authors respect and publish the facts; in no circumstances they present their or someone else’s opinion – such as commentary and criticism – as facts or use techniques to manipulate the audience.
2. The Authors pursue only public interests and ensure the balance and plurality of different views. They are committed to the right of the public to truth, will publish only impartial accurate and undistorted content, meaning they will not allow any personal, economic, or political factors (beliefs, interest, or ideas) to influence their work and its results. The Authors shall be independent of any instruction, pressure or request from any public institution, private organisation, or individual in all matters concerning the content that is produced for PulseZ.
3. The Authors will also work in accordance with principles of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, and of the right of fair comment and criticism.
4. The Authors shall report only in accordance with facts of which they know the origin. They shall not suppress essential information, present information out of context, use over-simplification that can be used to misrepresent information, use words or phrases with negative connotations, falsify any document, or misrepresent the data. The Authors will be careful to reproduce any information that has been published in social media.
5. The Authors shall use only fair methods to obtain information, images, documents and data. They will always report their status as a journalist and will refrain from using hidden recordings of images and sounds, except where it is impossible for them to collect information that is overwhelmingly in the public interest. They will demand free access to all sources of information and the right to freely investigate all facts of public interest.
6. Whenever possible, the Authors shall use methods of engaged journalism (consulting the public during creation of the working plan or content, for example through online tools or face-to-face meetings) and constructive/solutions journalism (involving experts and public in creation of content, including diverse perspectives and solutions, facilitating critical thinking of an audience). They shall respect those, who are not professional journalists or content creators, as their equal colleagues and not yield to the public’s opinion but use it for critical reflection of their work. No potential solution shall be promoted, the public shall have the opportunity to freely choose. 6. The Authors will not act in a rude or discourteous way towards the audience, interviewees, or sources of information. At the same time, they will defend their work that is in line with professional and ethical standards.
7. The notion of urgency or immediacy in the dissemination of information shall not take precedence over the verification of facts, sources, and/or the offer of a reply.
8. The Authors shall do the utmost to rectify any errors or published information which is found to be inaccurate in a timely, explicit, complete, and transparent manner.
9. The Authors shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information obtained in confidence.
10. The Authors will respect privacy. They shall not compel anyone to provide an interview. They ensure that they have obtained permission (at least verbally) from the persons whose image or voice is featured in the content. In the case of minors, this permission needs to be obtained from the persons holding the parental authority. They shall respect the dignity of the persons named and/or represented and inform the interviewee whether the conversation and other material is intended for publication. They shall show particular consideration to inexperienced and vulnerable interviewees.
11. The Authors shall critically assess the content they produce and ensure that its potential to have negative effects on individuals, communities, or whole society is minimal. They especially ensure that the dissemination of information or opinion does not contribute to hatred or prejudice and shall do their utmost to avoid supporting and facilitating the spread of biases, stereotypes, and discrimination on grounds such as geographical, social or ethnic origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, disability, political and other opinions.
12. The Authors will avoid serious professional misconducts which are plagiarism, distortion of facts, slander, libel, defamation, unfounded accusations, copyright infringement, and inaccurate credits to sources of information or content. They will not improperly exploit the sensitivities of the audience, religious views and/or beliefs of those belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination.
13. All persons collaborating on the creation of content are properly mentioned. When Authors work on content production with another person/s and they publish and distribute said content, they shall always properly give credit to all collaborators, including experts and members of the public.
14. The Authors shall refrain from acting as an auxiliary of the police or other security services. They will only be required to provide information already published on PulseZ channels.
15. The Authors will show solidarity with their colleagues, without renouncing their freedom of investigation, duty to inform, and right to engage in criticism, commentary, satire and editorial choice.
16. The Authors shall not use the freedom of the press to serve any other than public interest and shall refrain from receiving any unfair advantage or personal gain because of the dissemination or non-dissemination of information. They will report to the PulseZ Editorial Board any situation that could lead them to a conflict of interest in the exercise of their profession. They will avoid any confusion between their activity and that of activism, advertising, or propaganda. They will refrain from any form of insider trading and market manipulation.
17. The Authors will not undertake any activity or engagement likely to put their independence in danger. They will, however, respect the methods of collection/dissemination of information that they have freely accepted, such as “off the record”, anonymity, or embargo, provided that these commitments are clear and unquestionable.
18. Corruption and bribery are forbidden. The Authors shall not offer, give, agree to give, or accept any gift, money, or consideration of any kind as an inducement, or reward in relation to their work and content produced for PulseZ.
19. The Authors confirm that before they start working on PulseZ content, they make themselves familiar with the rules stipulated by the PulseZ Editorial and Content strategy, especially those concerning technical and stylistic requirements for various genres, and they will comply with them.
20. The Authors shall deem it their duty to observe faithfully the principles stated above. They may not be compelled to perform a professional act or to express an opinion that is contrary to their professional conviction or conscience.
21. Within the general law of each country the journalist shall recognize in matters of professional honour, the jurisdiction of independent self-regulatory bodies opens to the public, to the exclusion of every kind of interference by governments or others.
22. These guidelines are applicable to any language version of content published on PulseZ. If an author manually translates content into another language, they guarantee that all the information, data, and meanings correspond with those included in the version which was approved by the Editorial Board or an Editorial Board member. No information or data shall be added; when literal translation is not possible paraphrases can be used, but no meanings shall be altered. Members of the Editorial Board with knowledge of language(s) used in the content will also check compliance with Editorial guidelines.
Legal notice:
This Charter on Professional and Ethical Standards is a legally binding document and will form an integral part of agreements / contracts with all people working on the PulseZ content. Those submitting the content via online tool on PulseZ Hub will confirm the compliance with this Charter by ticking the corresponding box in the submission form.