News Values of Media

Sources

Transparency is critical to media's credibility with the public and their subscribers. Whenever possible, media pursue information on the record. When a newsmaker insists on background or off-the-record ground rules, media must adhere to a strict set of guidelines.

Material from anonymous sources may be used only if:

• The material is information and not opinion or speculation, and is vital to the news report.
• The information is not available except under the conditions of anonymity imposed by the source.
• The source is reliable, and in a position to have accurate information.
• Reporters who intend to use material from anonymous sources must get approval from their news manager before sending the story to the desk. The manager is responsible for verifying the material and making sure it meets media guidelines. The manager must know the identity of the source, and is obligated, like the reporter, to keep the source's identity confidential. Only after they are assured that the source material has been verified should editors allow it to be transmitted.

      Reporters should proceed with interviews on the assumption they are on the record. If the source wants to set conditions, these should be negotiated at the start of the interview. At the end of the interview, the reporter should try once again to move some or all of the information back on the record. Before agreeing to use anonymous source material, the reporter should ask how the source knows the information is accurate, ensuring that the source has direct knowledge.

Media routinely seeks and requires more than one source. Stories should be held while attempts are made to reach additional sources for confirmation or elaboration. In rare cases, one source will be sufficient – when material comes from an authoritative figure who provides information so detailed that there is no question of its accuracy.

Media must explain in the story why the source requested anonymity. And, when it’s relevant, they must describe the source's motive for disclosing the information. If the story hinges on documents, as opposed to interviews, the reporter must describe how the documents were obtained, at least to the extent possible.

The story also must provide attribution that establishes the source's credibility; simply quoting "a source" is not allowed. Media should be as descriptive as possible: "according to top White House aides" or "a senior official in the Indonesia Foreign Office." The description of a source must never be altered without consulting the reporter.

Media must not say that a person declined comment when he or she is already quoted anonymously. And media should not attribute information to anonymous sources when it is obvious or well known. Media should just state the information as fact.

Truth

Nothing in news report – words, photos, graphics, sound or video – may be fabricated. Media don't use pseudonyms, composite characters or fictional names, ages, places or dates. Media don't stage or re-enact events for the camera or microphone, and they don't use sound effects or substitute video or audio from one event to another. Media do not “cheat” sound by adding audio to embellish or fabricate an event. A senior editor must be consulted prior to the introduction of any neutral sound (ambient sound that does not affect the editorial meaning but corrects a technical fault).

Media do not ask people to pose for photos unless media are making a portrait and then media clearly state that in the caption. Media explain in the caption the circumstances under which photographs are made. If someone is asked to pose for photographs by third parties and that is reflected in media-produced images, media say so in the caption. Such wording would be: ``Person X poses for photos.’’

Graphics

Media use only authoritative sources. They do not project, surmise or estimate in a graphic. Media create work only from what they know.

Media create charts at visually proper perspectives to give an accurate representation of data. The information must be clear and concise.

Media credit their sources on every graphic, including graphics for which journalists have created the data set or database.

Media pictures must always tell the truth. Media do not alter or digitally manipulate the content of a photograph in any way. The content of a photograph must not be altered in Photoshop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph. The faces or identities of individuals must not be obscured by Photoshop or any other editing tool. Only retouching or the use of the cloning tool to eliminate dust on camera sensors and scratches on scanned negatives or scanned prints are acceptable.

Minor adjustments in Photoshop are acceptable. These include cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, and normal toning and color adjustments that should be limited to those minimally necessary for clear and accurate reproduction (analogous to the burning and dodging previously used in darkroom processing of images) and that restore the authentic nature of the photograph.