How Media Is Made

FT Editorial Code

INTEGRITY, INTEGRITY, INTEGRITY

The Financial Times, arguably the world's best known publisher of business news, is synonymous with 'integrity, accuracy and authority'. This means that it is important that the FT maintains the highest possible professional and ethical standards of journalism – and the public sees it doing so.

BEYOND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

The FT has established a code for its financial and business journalism that incorporates and goes beyond the standards set by Britain's Press Complaints Commission. The PPC code includes items such as a care for accuracy, providing opportunity for readers and those mentioned in articles to reply and a distance between the content of their writing and their personal financial dealings. Its rules for employees include:

- Not using information they gather ahead of general publication for their own advantage;
- Not passing on information to others;
- Not reporting on companies that they have shares in;
- Not speculate by buying and selling shares on a short-term basis.

LESSONS LEARNED

To believe in the subject matter of the news, readers must believe that the providers of that information took every care to produce it honestly. By enforcing this code, readers of the FT know that the processes used to gather news items are fair and not misleading. This expands an awareness of the process but, more importantly, how valuable it is to have genuinely truthful content in our media.

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