Don't ordinary journalists have a say ?
There are genuine risks in making this a Code of Ethics – theoretical and undefined – rather than a down-to-earth
practical system. First, the editor has to be the final arbiter of hat goes in his r her newspaper. In practical terms,
that means more junior staff referring up decisions, rather than making their own judgments based on interpretations of
the Code that my or may not be accurate, and cannot be final. In the worst cases, they could be excising from copy important
information, without giving the editor to make a proper judgment on it. Second, if staffs have issues with the Code,
they should certainly raise them. But – in the busy production schedules of a newspaper – they have to realize that the editor’s
decision is the one that counts, as he is responsible both in law and practice. Having said, that most editors would listen hard
to the views of senior staff on whose judgments thy often depend.