Two of the guiding principles of the Society of Professional Journalists are ethics and the free flow of information.

Journalism Ethics
Through our code of ethics, we work to restore the public’s faith in the press by promoting the highest professional standards for journalists. For journalists struggling with an ethical dilemma on deadline, SPJ’s national organization offers an ethics hotline. The hotline is monitored by SPJ staff members, and requests are directed to appropriate committee members. Requests for confidentiality will be honored. For more information on SPJ’s commitment to ethical journalism, visit the Ethics page of the national SPJ Web site.

Freedom of Information
The passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966 dramatically improved public access to records held by the federal government. Before the FOIA, as the law is commonly called, the burden was on the requester to show why the government should release a record. Now the burden is on the government to show why it should withhold a record. Originally passed by the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1901, the Arizona Public Records Law provides the public matters and other matters in the custody of public officials must remain open to inspection by any person.

Local FOIA resources include:

• Attorney Peter Limperis of the Tucson law firm Miller, Pitt, Feldman and McAnally, P.C., staffs the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona‘s media hotline (plimperis@mhfmlaw.com, or 520-792-3836) for journalists, including student journalists. Valley of the Sun SPJ co-founded the coalition in 1981. Limperis provides free advice to Arizona professional and student journalists on:
  • obtaining public records
  • gaining access to public meetings, hearings in courtrooms and
  • use in public meetings and hearings of cameras, microphones, smartphones and other electronic devices.
• The Arizona Reporter’s Handbook on Media Law, principally written and edited by former coalition counsel Dan Barr, had its 7th edition published for the coalition in 2015. Click here for information on how to download it free.

For more information on FOIA issues, write to info@phoenixspj.org.