Statement of Principles
News Cop’s Statement of Principles reflects journalist code of ethics provided by the Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and incorporates the code of ethics of the Australian Journalists Association.
It is to apply to all editorial staff of News Cop and, where relevant, its casual employees, freelancers, and contributors. In interpreting and applying the code, the interests of the public shall always be paramount.
1. Honesty
News Cop staff will report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness, and disclosure of all essential facts. They will not suppress or falsify relevant facts. They will do their utmost to giver a fair opportunity for reply.
2. Fairness
News Cop staff will use fair, honest, and responsible means to obtain material. They will identify themselves and the newspaper before obtaining interviews or images.
3. Impartiality
News Cop staff will not allow their personal interest, payment, benefit, belief, or commitment, to undermine their accuracy of content, fairness, or independence.
4. Accuracy
News Cop staff will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that material facts are accurate and presented in context, and do not present factual content in a way that will materially mislead the audience.
5. Independence
News Cop staff will not allow advertising or other commercial considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness, or independence, or to influence the nature of News Cop’s coverage.
6. Privacy
News Cop staff will seek to balance the public interest in respect for privacy with the public interest in disclosure of information and freedom of expression.
7. Avoidance of harm
News Cop staff will not place unnecessary emphasis on personal characteristics, including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, family relationships, religious belief, or physical or intellectual disability.
8. Respect
News Cop staff will respect private grief and personal privacy. Staff have the right to resist compulsion to intrude.
Statement of Privacy Principles
In conjunction with the Statement of Principles, the Privacy Principles are applied by News Cop when providing advice or adjudicating on individual complains
1. Collection of personal information
In seeking personal information, all News Cop staff should not unduly intrude on the privacy of individuals and must show respect and sensitivity of people encountered in the course of gathering news.
Reasonable steps must be taken to avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
Public figures necessarily sacrifice their right to privacy, where public scrutiny is in the public interest. However, intrusion into their right to privacy must be related to their public duties or activities.
2. Use and disclosure of personal information
Personal information gathered by all News Cop staff must only be used for the purpose for which it was intended. A person who supplies their information should have reasonable expectation that it will be used for the purpose for which it was obtained.
To the extent lawful and practicable, News Cop will only disclosure sufficient personal information to identify the person’s being reported in the news, so that these risks can be reasonably avoided.
3. Quality of personal information
News Cop must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it obtains is accurate, complete, and up-to-date.
4. Security of personal information
News Cop must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it holds is protected from misuse, loss, or unathorised access.
5. Anonymity of sources
All persons who provide information to News Cop are entitled to seek anonymity and identity of confidential sources must not be revealed.
6. Fairness and balance
News Cop must take all reasonable steps to ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance, and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.
7. Sensitive personal information
News Cop must take reasonable steps to avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial office, distress, or prejudice, or a significant risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
Any person part of a newsworthy event must not be exploited. A victim or bereaved person has the right to refuse or terminate an interview or photographic session at any time unless.
Unless otherwise restricted by law or court order, open court hearings are matters of public record and can be reported in the press. Such reports, however, need to be fair and balanced and must not reveal identities of relatives or friends of people accused or convicted of a crime.