Patrice Veit, a local citizen, refers to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics in her complaint to the River Falls Journal, a small town newspaper. Veit's application of the SPJ Code is a good example of its practical use for citizens, as well as for journalists, in fostering communications between media outlets and readers, and core journalism values.
Patrice Veit, wrote to the River Falls Journal , River Falls, Wisconsin, Population 14,000, about a “stunning breach of journalistic ethics.” She states that “reporter Kyle Weaver wrote a letter to the editor for publication in the River Falls Journal. His letter,’Potshots are bad politics,’ lambasted Assembly candidate Sarah Bruch so harshly and inaccurately that it was comical.”
Veit continues, “Mr. Weaver identified himself only as being from Osceola and a UW-RF alumnus. What he carefully and purposely omitted was the fact that he does not vote in Ms. Bruch district, and in fact was at the recent debate as a reporter for the Osceola Sun newspaper.
“While Mr. Weaver is entitled to express his partisan political viewpoints, the professional journalists I know would never abide this breach of ethics. Kyle’s readers assumption of his objectivity is now forever tainted…
“I invite Mr. Weaver to visit the Society of Professional Journalists Website at www.spj.org and read its code of ethics. Potshots are bad journalism, too.”
