Deontology

Honesty, responsibility, accuracy, truth are the key words of the codes of ethics defining the rights and duties of journalists.

A certain number of these charters are accessible to everyone on the web, the most significant being theMunich Charterandthat of the National Press Photographers Association.

Code of ethics

With more specific regard to photojournalists, these charters specify that they must:

1. Respect the truth, whatever the consequences for themselves.

2. Check their sources.

3. Publish only information whose origin is known.

4. Do not use unfair methods to obtain photographs.

5. Not paying sources or subjects.

6. Treat subjects with respect and dignity, and only intrude on grief-free moments when the audience hasa compelling and justifiable need to see him.

7. Not intervening in an event to steer its course.

8. Do not stage or re-enact an event.

9. Don't write fake captions.

10. Communicate to the publisher all the information at his disposal in order to avoid any misinterpretation or any misuse.

11. Be attentive to the choice of possible publications in order to avoid any use in an editorially oriented context.

Prohibited manipulations

Digital photography and developments in computer technology have opened the way to a number of manipulations.

The only ones authorized are those that are already accepted in the field of analog photography and traditionally carried out in the darkroom (such as removing a trace of dust on the sensor using the Photoshop cloning tool).