Press releases and newsletter
AFP publishes its code of ethics in Chinese
The international news agency AFP has published its code of ethics, which sets out its guiding editorial principles, in Chinese.
The code covers traditional journalistic values such as the importance of accuracy, balanced reporting and protection of sources along with guidelines on dealing with the challenges of the digital era including handling content uploaded to social networks.
The AFP Editorial Standards and Best Practices were drawn up last year by former AFP editor-in-chief Eric Wishart and have already been published in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
AFP’s global news director Michèle Léridon said: “At a time when the credibility of the media is under attack as never before, the AFP code of ethics provides a roadmap for best journalistic practices.
“The code sets out the universally accepted principles that distinguish responsible media from the purveyors of fake news and disinformation.”
The code was translated into Chinese in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre.
It is being published initially in simplified characters, which are used throughout mainland China. A version in traditional characters -- used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – will follow.
Philippe Massonnet, AFP’s Asia-Pacific director, said from the Agency’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong:
“We felt it was particularly important to share our ethics charter with the Chinese-speaking world at a time when there is rapid growth in news published in Chinese on all platforms.”
“We believe that the AFP ethics guidelines will be useful for journalists, students and others involved in the media industry in China and other countries where Chinese is spoken.”
Philippe Massonnet, a former AFP Beijing bureau chief, added: “We are delighted that the Chinese version of this document was produced in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong’s journalism school, with which AFP has had an official partnership since last year.”
About AFP
AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,300 staff spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.