100 Things Journalists Should Never Do

From PoynterOnline:

100 Things Journalists Should Never Do

by Julie Moos at 10:07 AM on Nov. 17, 2009

Inspired by The New York Times' stories listing 100 things restaurant workers should never do, we wondered what 100 things journalists should never do.

By journalist I mean anyone -- inside or outside a newsroom -- who aspires to provide an accurate account of something. It could be an account of parenthood, or what happened at the World Series, or whether the swine flu vaccination is available where you live.

We'll be publishing on Twitter these 100 things journalists should and should not do. We hope you'll tweet your own suggestions there, using the hashtag 100Things (#100things), or you can post them as comments to this article so we can all track the ideas.

The most retweeted of the 100 things will be part of the 100 "should"s and "should never"s we'll publish below.

As of Monday morning, we've seen about 450 tweets to #100things, including some new favorites and some old standbys. Here's a selection of the most retweeted so far:

A journalist should never do: Wonder how to rewrite a press release before wondering how to fact-check it. (@JoshHalliday)

A journalist should never do: confuse impartiality with decontexualised he said-she said reporting. (@paulbradshaw)

A journalist should never be a friendly dog when reporting and then go snake at the keyboard. ABC. Always Be Congruent. (@carr2n)

Some familiar favorites

Give voice to those who cannot make themselves heard. (@paulbradshaw)

Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. (@lkorleski)

Actually follow rule of "If your mother says she loves you, get a second source." (@ddt tweets a variation on "If your mother says she loves you, check it out.")

And of course, there are always going to be some...

Don't be a slave to any rule, including these 100. (Michael Booth)

A journalist should never do: make lists of 'never dos.' (@dbanksy)

Journalists should never take part in hokey social networking gimmicks. (@smartelle)

Here's what Poynter has tweeted

#1 Know the audience, what information they want/need & how they want to learn & share it. News is an activity, not a product.

#2 Always be willing to let any answer -- including one on deadline -- completely change the story's direction.

#3 Journalists should be available. Let people know how to e-mail you, call, IM, DM or otherwise get in touch.

#4 Journalists should be active community members. If you aren't of the people, you aren't by the people or for the people.

#5 Get out of the office & out of the house. Don't hide behind your job or computer. Rediscover the "local" in "hyperlocal."

#6 Remember your purpose. The best stories lead to well-informed people who make better decisions for a better democracy.

#7 Be responsive. When a reader gets in touch, listen & follow up. Without an engaged audience, you're talking to yourself.

#8 Journalists should never stop learning. Even 15 minutes a day helps; learn a new skill or sharpen an old one.

#9 Journalists should be comfortable with silence during interviews. You'll hear & learn more if you're not talking.

#10 Journalists should never plead ignorance about the business of news, who pays, how & why. It's not purist, it's irresponsible.

#11 Journalists should follow the facts where they lead, especially if that's somewhere unexpected & uncomfortable.