Code of Ethics

The season for evaluation has come. My topic for this post is to detail my personal code of ethics in journalism.
A journalist should have his or her first loyalty to tell people the truth. Although money, in many instances, "makes the world go 'round," I believe that people will trust those who have integrity. Not being a journalism major, however, I will apply this to Family History as well as journalism. In order to publish, or give a good report to clients, I must research thoroughly and present things in a proportionate way. In doing so, I will be completing my work with integrity. It frustrates me to see paintings in which people aren't portrayed with their own faces. Writing about someone's family history also creates a portrait; it would not be ethical to portray people in a way that historians, looking back, could date another historian's work by the stereotypical qualities integrated in the history. Newspapers, too, have their stereotypes. For instance, the name "yellow journalism" has significance because of the trend of reporters during that time. If we reported on the news of that era, it would be different, because while the trend of sensationalism still lives, making stories up is looked down upon when it comes to serious news (although fun stories like Bat Boy and Tiger Woods' mistresses are still contrived as junk news).
Due to the history of American journalism, I think that the news today is mainly divided into two categories: tabloid stories and substantial news. Everyone reads tabloids because they are so eye-catching. And if the purpose of writing is to entertain rather than inform, and people know that, I feel it is an honorable way to make money. Mark Twain did it on the radio, and everyone loved it.
Serious news, however, has had a good readership, because highly educated people have typically wanted more bulk and less drama. The honor of news writing is in informing the readers of the world around them. Not interfering with their ability to make decisions for themselves, or providing balanced information, despite taking a political stand.
To apply that to writing family histories, I believe that a historian should avoid tabloidisticity, unless it is a book like "1776 and All That." This is my ethics code, and I hope to fulfill it.