Like with news selection, use of stylebooks guiding daily editorial decisions also varies between media organisations. Of these organisations, three declared possessing them; two of these considered them relevant, whereas both the editor and journalist of the third said they had not read it.
In every case, there was awareness on the part of the interviewees about the concept of editorial guidelines containing the medium’s mission, and therefore, its philosophy. The interviewees said they learnt it by immersing themselves in its culture, where the shared ethos is defined. According to the interviews, it was evident that new journalists acquired the culture through conversations with their colleagues and editors, by working in the newsroom, as well as through their own understanding of the organisation they worked in. In the interviews, this culture is evident in phrases that sound like statements of principles extracted from an official document:
- As a principle, we have to believe in our workers.
- Independence is not about being partial.
- We do not consider a stylebook, because we tend to trust our journalists.
- Since we are not witnessing everything we inform on, we use the word “conditional” a lot, so it is understood that it is developing news. We take care of the language we use. We also do not state the exact numbers for people who participate in protests.
- Something unchanged in the past 20 years is our role as a watchdog. We oversee power, not a political colour.
- Without necessary investigation and information, certain topics like sexual abuse are not published.
- Working in this medium is a personal choice.
- We will always defend public institutions, private property, and representative democracy, not a dictatorship of the minorities.
- To accuse an authority, there must be a legal conviction or information that present a non-biased reasonable assumption about lack of honesty.
- I ask to see the advertising, because they have to be coherent with my editorial guidelines.
- We do not cover issues to indulge ourselves in – this is journalism.
- We are pro-democracy. We have guidelines for clarity that we are not worried about making transparent to the audience.
- The audiences are the ones to judge.
- This is not activism; it is journalism, and journalism is a professional information service.
- The only boundaries are ethics.
- My boundaries to not do something are: if they asked me to lie or if I was forced to interview someone who incites hatred or discrimination.
- We all function with our own ethical views on journalism.
- My view is similar to the medium’s editorial guidelines, and that happens to us journalists who work here.
Therefore, there is self-regulation within a shared culture between journalists and editors. Even not using a stylebook, for two editors, appeared to be a gesture of professional trust, attributing a negative connotation to the document. Thus, ethics are in large part defined in the formation and personal experience of each professional.
