[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16234]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            JOURNALISTS WRONGLY CHANGE THEIR CODE OF ETHICS

  (Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Society of Professional 
Journalists has given Americans some bad news about the state of the 
media. Their previous code of ethics specifically affirmed that:

       News reports should be free of opinion or bias and 
     represent all sides of an issue.

  This line has been removed. In fact, the revised code makes no 
mention that news reports should be free of bias.
  How can we expect journalists to cover events in a fair and objective 
way when their own code of ethics no longer discourages biased 
reporting? Maybe that explains the slanted coverage we see so often 
today when news stories have become editorials.
  The Society of Professional Journalists should reclaim their ethics 
and restate their commitment to fair and balanced reporting. The media 
should provide the American people with the facts, not tell them what 
to think.

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