It’s not a new conversation. But with the spring comes renewed interest in examining the SPJ Code of Ethics and its usefulness in addressing the many facets of contemporary journalism.

The March/April issue of Quill addresses the question in a cover story. There are two perspectives:

– Yes, says Steve Buttry, a longtime editor and digital news evangelist. By his account, 21^st century journalism requires a 21^st century code.

– On the other hand, past SPJ president Irwin Gratz says the Code, as adopted in 1996, is inclusive and flexible. It’s structured to address the many considerations journalists and outlets make daily – considerations that were present in 1996 and remain present today.

But those aren’t the only perspectives. What do you think? The SPJ Ethics Committee wants to know. Tell committee members what you think. Comment below and/or submit a letter to the editor. If emailing a letter, please include a phone number for verification.

Let the reasonable discourse begin!

– Scott Leadingham

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Tags: Irwin Gratz, SPJ Code of Ethics, Steve Buttry, update code of ethics

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This entry was posted by SPJ Staff on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 at 8:51 am and is filed under SPJ Code of Ethics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.