This international declaration has been adopted by the International Federation of

Journalists (IFJ) as

a standard of professional conduct for journalists engaged in gathering, transmitting,

disseminating and commenting on news and information and in describing events:

1. Respect for truth and for the right of the public to truth is the first duty

   of the journalist.

2. In pursuance of this duty, the journalist shall at all times defend the principles

   of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, and of the right of

   fair comment and criticism.

3. The journalist shall report only in accordance with facts of which he/she knows

   the origin. The journalist shall not suppress essential information or falsify documents.

4. The journalist shall use only fair methods to obtain news, photographs and documents.
5. The journalist shall do the utmost to rectify any published information which

   is found to be harmfully inaccurate.

6. The journalist shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information

   obtained in confidence.

7. The journalist shall be aware of the danger of discrimination being furthered

   by the media, and shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination based

   on, among other things, race, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political

   or other opinions, and national or social origins.

8. The journalist shall regard as grave professional offenses the following:

Plagiarism;

Malicious misrepresentation;

Calumny, slander, libel, unfounded accusation;

The acceptance of a bribe in any form in consideration of either publication or suppression.

Journalists worthy of that name shall deem it their duty to observe faithfully

the principles stated above. Within the general law of each country the journalist

shall recognize in professional matters the jurisdiction of colleagues only, to the

exclusion of every kind of interference by governments or others.