Community Radio Pledge (pdf) - amarc

a lawsuit or a trial, including the preparation of criminal bases by thepolice and the prosecution.3. Court reporting should be objective. At any stage of the preparation oflawsuits and trials and suing the hearing by the court, the journalistsshould aim at a qualitatively equal representation of the points of viewof the parties - in criminal cases the points of view of the counsel forthe prosecution and the counsel for the defense, respectively. A mentionof a criminal case should be followed up by an account of the end ofthe case, whether this takes place in the form of a withdrawal of thecharge, acquittal, or conviction.4. The mention of persons' family history, occupation, race, nationality,creed, or membership of organizations should be avoided unless thishas something directly to do with the case.5. As long as a criminal case has not been finally decided or the chargehas not been withdrawn, no information must be published which mayobstruct the clearing up of the case, nor must pronouncements to theeffect that a suspect or an accused is guilty be published. When acriminal case is mentioned, it shall clearly appear from the report whetherthe suspect / accused have declared himself guilty or not guilty.6. To the widest possible extent a clear objective line shall be followed indeciding which cases shall be mentioned and in which cases the namesof the persons involved shall be mentioned. A suspect or an accused'snames or other identification should be omitted if no public interestcalls for the publication of the name.7. Caution should be exercised in publishing statements to the effect that thepolice have been informed about a crime committed by a person mentionedby name. Such information should as a rule not be published, until theinformation to the police has resulted in the intervention of the police orthe prosecution. This rule shall not apply. However, if the conduct whichthe police have been informed about is beforehand known in wide circlesor is of considerable public interest or it on the existing basis it must beassumed that the information to the police is solidly substantiated.8. A suspect, accused, or convicted person shall be spared from havingattention called to an earlier conviction if it is without importance inrelation to the facts which he is suspected of, charged with, or convictedof. In connection with other news, the earlier criminal cases against anamed person should, as a rule, not be mentioned.109