The purpose of this document is to outline key ethics policies for the newsroom. It is not a set of comprehensive bylaws; it does not address every situation likely to arise. As with the news itself, ethics is never static. Rather, we consider ethics the subject of an ongoing conversation, guided by these foundational principles.
We must be dedicated to truth, accuracy, and transparency in our reporting — these principles form the bedrock of our credibility.
We are committed to objectivity and to avoiding both bias and the appearance of bias. We do not contribute to political campaigns or do volunteer or paid work for candidates or political parties. At the same time, we respect the right to exercise civic rights such as voting and taking part in the community. Registering with a party is permitted when it is a requisite for voting in a primary, but we do not participate in other party activities.
We do not participate in the shareholder meetings of the companies we cover, accept gifts, discounts or special privileges from sources, or sit on the boards of medical or educational institutions, industry groups, or private firms we cover. We ask questions whenever there is a concern or uncertainty about whether our activities could jeopardize perceptions of our impartiality or credibility.
This ethics policy applies to high-profile public activities, including your posts on STAT and personal social media accounts. As a journalist, you are in the public sphere and you are perceived as representing STAT even when engaging in personal activities outside the workday. So always avoid bias and the appearance of bias on any topics that are, or potentially could be, covered by you or your colleagues. You should avoid weighing in on any public controversies, even foreign conflicts and other matters seemingly remote from what STAT and you cover; virtually any issue can become a domestic political controversy, affecting the perception of your and STAT’s neutrality.
Participation in demonstrations, marches, or vigils is acceptable in some rare circumstances to show support for basic human rights, as long as they are nonpartisan and are not advocating for specific policy prescriptions. Anything that could be seen as partisan, such as anti-war marches or events in Washington, D.C., should be avoided.
We correct errors explicitly and as soon as we become aware of them.
We maintain independence from the business side. While we work cooperatively with the business team on events, reports, and other programs, the newsroom has its own interests and solely determines the journalism we produce. The editorial team solely determines the content of news coverage and other editorial products, never the sponsors.
We obey all federal and state laws. We disclose our identity and affiliation to sources, we do not misrepresent ourselves, and we abide by the two-party consent law in the taping of interviews in states where it applies. In extraordinary cases, it may be permissible to not proactively announce our affiliation, but such cases require careful deliberation and consent of supervisors.
We do not share drafts of stories with sources before publication; however, we can share discrete excerpts for the purpose of verifying their accuracy, such as when describing complicated science. We do not read back quotes to sources, though in rare situations, and with an editor’s approval, it may be permissible to read back parts of an interview to get a source’s permission to put the material on the record.
In the interest of transparency and building readers’ trust, we strive to fully identify all sources. This applies to individuals as well as spokespeople for companies and government agencies. We understand that sometimes this is not possible and exceptions can be made with an editor’s permission. Use of anonymous sources will occasionally be permitted if there’s no other way to obtain crucial information, though only with corroboration and a senior editor’s permission. In these cases, an explanation for why we are not naming the source should be included in the story. We don’t pay sources for information or interviews.
We do not abuse private or embargoed information for financial gain. We do not invest in stocks of individual health care, biotech, or pharmaceutical companies, nor do we invest in financial instruments, such as mutual funds or ETFs, specific to those sectors. We may own diversified mutual funds and other diversified investments that include such stocks in their holdings, such as through the BGMP 401(k) plan, because we have no control over those funds’ investment decisions.
We accept invitations for public speaking engagements, but do not accept fees from private companies. We may accept fees and expense reimbursement from some educational or journalism organizations or other nonprofits but only in cases in which there is no potential for conflict of interest. Under no circumstances do we participate as speakers or moderators in events or panels organized or controlled by companies or organizations that we cover. All invitations should be reviewed by a supervisor.
We pay our own way. When we entertain sources, we pay for the expenses. We may accept meals or beverages in certain situations when declining such offers would be awkward or impolite — an offer of coffee at a corporate office, for instance. We avoid accepting meals and beverages regularly from the same source.
We operate with integrity at all times and have zero tolerance for plagiarism or fabrication. When we report facts initially and exclusively reported by another news organization, we credit them accordingly.
We expect STAT contributors, of both news and opinion articles, to disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to what they’re writing, including current or recent financial ties to companies and membership in organizations with a stake in the topic. We require contributors to disclose if anyone but the named author(s) had a role in writing, researching, editing, or instigating a piece, and we do not accept pieces written or originated by companies, organizations, or PR firms that use figurehead authors to disguise their role. Senior editors will review whether any such relationships disqualify a contributor from writing for STAT.