But Will Reporters Use Them?   

Ethics codes may be a hot topic for editors. But what about the people on the front lines, the reporters? If their newspaper has one, have they read it? Do they consult it? Is it any help?

Conversations with a handful of reporters around the country suggest that dictionaries are consulted far more often. Reporters interviewed say they rely on their own instincts when questions of ethics arise. Some do consult codes, some can't (when there isn't one), and some don't even know if their paper has one.

John Mintz, a business reporter who has been at the Washington Post for 11 years, is one of the latter. (The Post has a code.) "It's not absolutely necessary to have written codes but it is to have ethical standards," he says. "It's real important to know the general things that are expected, especially for young reporters."

Dan Meyers, a reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer's Denver bureau with 18 years of experience, says an ethics code would have helped him when he was starting out. "Why not have a code?" he asks. "I say this as a sinner, not a bishop. I broke plenty of rules when I was young, partly because no one had ever laid out the ground rules. There were things I did then that I wouldn't do now."

Judy Fahys, a business reporter at the Salt Lake Tribune for more than a year, had to check with an editor to determine whether her paper has a code. It doesn't.

"A written ethics code would be of value if only for the reason that as a reporter my job is to hold different people accountable," Fahys says. "I don't think I should be different and not be held accountable... I write stories about lawmakers taking free lunches. Why should I take a lunch and a lawmaker not? A lot of reporters set their own limits."

Rather than dash to the ethics code, many reporters consult their editors when faced with a dilemma.

"I find myself having conversations with editors when I perceive a gray area," says Craig Gilbert, a political reporter for the Milwaukee Journal with 12 years of experience. "But I have a pretty good idea in my mind what's improper and proper."

Says Joseph Williams, a Miami Herald reporter with a decade of experience who wasn't sure the Herald had a code (it does): "Generally you know this is something you should or shouldn't do. If there's a question, then I ask an editor."

Reporters interviewed seem to agree codes do help in such situations as whether to accept a free meal or tickets. But even that provision can sometimes be unclear. "Say a source offers you dinner at his house," says Fahys. "I know they are not doing it to influence me, but is that acceptable or not? I think the real value of an ethics code is not what it says, but the process of developing [it]."

One thorny issue is differentiating between a journalist's roles as reporter and citizen. "That's one that really comes down to individual cases," says Meyers, "which is why it's difficult to write an absolute prohibition" on community involvement. – A.C.S .