Proactive Innovators

Journalists must be ‘proactive – not just reactive – participants in the process of innovation’ if they hope to preserve their core values related to truth, community and democracy, according to a set of ethical guidelines recently provided by the U.S.-based Poynter Institute. The guidelines, based on a wide-ranging discussion among online journalists at a summer 2006 conference, urge journalists to ‘embrace dramatic changes in the pressures and competition we face and the products we publish’, as well as to be open to opportunities ‘to build new business models that will flourish in an era of digital media'.

The guidelines also highlight transparency as integral to the relationship between news organizations and audiences, emphasizing the need for both individual and institutional accountability.

Other components of the guidelines cover issues ranging from credibility and accuracy to the use of multimedia content to ‘show dimensions of our world that words alone cannot convey’.

Full set of issues, guidelines and related items at www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=117350