Ethics in the production of audio in journalism

There are set rules for the constituents of journalism that have been around for a long time: writers have the SPJ Code of Ethics and photographers have the NPPA Code of Ethics . But with the creation of online journalism came unexplored territory -- audio.


Online journalism opened windows for the industry. Now, print journalists can dabble in the art of video, similar to a broadcast journalist. Photo stories can be placed in a slideshow fashion and be put to sound or music, enticing readers.


Using a program such as Audacity a journalist will take their acquired audio, ranging from interviews to background noise, and create layers of audio to make the final product. What listeners hear did not happen in real life , or at least the journalist didn't hear it that way.


Ethically speaking, though, audio hasn't come as far. There is no code of ethics to give it structure. The SPJ Code of Ethics says, "Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it." The NPPA Code of Ethics contains similar guidelines, so I want to know why it's okay for journalists to create sound that never happened the way it's portrayed.


Al Tompkins from the Poynter Institute wrote about the broadcast coverage of a Las Vegas casino shooting in his blog. The station released the security video of the event; security videos are usually shot with no audio. In order to compensate for the silence, the station added in the sounds of gun shots and slot machines. Although the situation was re-enacted based on the police investigation, it was still not the real situation. The station later publicly retracted their fictitious addition.


There needs to be an outline of the ethical procedure of capturing audio. Since writing and photographing practices each have a foundation, so should the practice of editing audio. If the ethical code proclaimed the current practices are ethical, that's great; I just want to make sure there is a universal understanding of the subject for the benefit of the readers.


Tompkins constructed his own set of ethics:
1. Do not add. Don't add sounds that did not exist.
2. Be judicious in your use of music and special sound effects.
3. Use special editing sparingly and carefully.
4. Exercise extreme care when altering an image.
5. Use File Tape Sparingly.


If a set of rules such as this was universally accepted, journalists could maintain their credibility and readers could expect a more truthful depiction of the news.