What SPJ’s revised code asks of the editor

Graphic: Neal Notes. Source: SPJ.

Suppose an image reaches an editor with no reliable account of its origin. It is circulating widely, and a competitor may publish it. A label saying that artificial intelligence was involved would tell readers something about its production; it would not establish that the depicted event happened.

The Society of Professional Journalists’ revised Code of Ethics, approved October 4, calls for checking the provenance and authenticity of the methods, sources and technology used to produce news. It also calls for explaining their role to audiences.

Verification before publication

SPJ reports that 93 percent of voting members approved the revisions. The four governing principles remain. A 16-member committee developed the update, informed by a survey of more than 700 people.

The code also addresses allegations, misinformation and sources whose voices are seldom heard. Applied to a summary or an edited image, those duties require attention to what the production process may have obscured: an allegation presented as a finding, a missing qualification, or an illustration mistaken for evidence.

SPJ’s code is voluntary and asks to be considered as a whole. It gives editors grounds for examining a disputed decision, while leaving them responsible for resolving it.

In the hypothetical image case, the first task is to establish what the file can support. A disclosure label cannot do that reporting.