Code of Ethics

• ETV Bharat Journalists shall adhere to highest standards of journalistic and media ethics.
• ETV Bharat stands for fair, accurate and unbiased journalism. Journalists working for ETV Bharat shall adhere to these values while making video stories on matters of public interest.
• ETV Bharat shall, as far as possible, present all sides of the story.
• Comments shall be sought from anyone who is mentioned in a negative context and evidence shall be kept of such attempts to seek the comments.
• Whenever it is recognized that an inaccurate, misleading or distorted story has been webcast, it shall be corrected promptly.
• Corrections shall present the correct information. It shall not take recourse to mere restating of error.
• ETV Bharat stories shall not fall short of factual accuracy and fairness.
• In its reports, ETV Bharat shall clearly distinguish between comment, conjecture and fact.
• Headings containing allegations made in statements shall identify the body or the source making them.
• ETV Bharat shall present news fairly and impartially, placing primary value on significance and relevance.
• ETV Bharat shall treat all subjects of news coverage with respect and dignity, showing particular compassion to victims of crime or tragedy.
• ETV Bharat’s analytical reporting shall be based on professional perspective, not personal bias.
• News shall be presented with integrity and common decency, avoiding real or perceived conflicts of interest, and respect the dignity and intelligence of the audience as well as the subjects of news.
• ETV Bharat’s video stories shall use confidential sources only when it is clearly in public interest to gather or convey important information to the people.
• The identity of the person passing on the information shall be kept a secret if there is risk of person providing information getting harmed. It would be our professional obligation to protect confidential sources of information.
• ETV Bharat shall use technological tools with skill and thoughtfulness, avoiding techniques that skew facts, distort reality, or sensationalize events.
• ETV Bharat shall not encourage sources who have vested interest in a story.
• Journalists associated with ETV Bharat shall not solicit or accept gifts, favours or compensations from those who might seek to influence coverage.
• Journalists are forbidden from engaging in activities that may compromise ETV Bharat’s integrity or independence.
• All the Journalists associated with ETV Bharat shall recognize that they are accountable for their actions to the public, the profession and themselves.
• It is the duty of ETV Bharat Journalists to respond to public concerns, investigate complaints and correct errors promptly.
• ETV Bharat Journalists shall recognize that they are duty-bound to conduct themselves ethically.
• ETV Bharat shall give a fair opportunity to reply to inaccuracies
• When material is used in a report from sources other than the reporter's, these sources shall be indicated in the story.
• ETV Bharat shall not webcast obscene or vulgar material unless such material contains news.
• News, views or comments on ethnic, religious or sectarian dispute shall be webcast only after proper verification of facts and presented with due caution and restraint in a manner which is conducive to the creation of an atmosphere congenial to national harmony, amity and peace.
• ETV Bharat reports shall not in any manner inflame the passions, aggravate the - tension or accentuate the strained relations between the communities concerned.
• Stories with the potential to exacerbate communal trouble shall be avoided.
• Except in justifiable cases, ETV Bharat shall not tape or record anyone without the person's knowledge. An exception may be made only if the recording is necessary to protect the journalist in a legal action or for some other compelling reason.
• Before recording a telephone conversation for the story a telephone conversation live, a station shall inform any party to the call of its intention to broadcast the conversation.
• ETV Bharat shall weigh public's right to know against the privacy rights of people in the news.
• It shall stick to the issues rather than hound individuals.
• Intrusion and inquiries into an individual's private life without the person's consent shall be a taboo unless it is legitimate public interest is involved. Public interest shall not mean mere prurient or morbid curiosity.
• ETV Bharat shall treat women and men equally as news subjects and news sources.

I. Financial reporting:

• 1.1. ETV Bharat Journalists shall not use financial information they receive in advance for their own benefit, and shall not pass the information to others.
• 1.2. ETV Bharat Journalists shall not webcast about shares, securities and other market instruments in whose performance they know they or their close families have a significant financial interest, without disclosing the interest to the editor.
• 1.3. ETV Bharat Journalists shall not buy or sell, directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities and other market instruments about which they intend to write in the near future.

II. Children and Victims of Sexual Offences:

• 2.1. ETV Bharat shall refrain from identifying children in cases of sexual offences.
• 2.2. Children shall not be approached or photographed while at school and other formal institutions without the permission of school authorities.
• 2.3. ETV Bharat shall not identify victims of sexual assault or present material likely to contribute to such identification.

III. Manipulation of pictures:

• 3.1. ETV Bharat shall apply caution in the use of pictures and names and shall avoid publication when there is a possibility of resulting in harm to the person concerned. Manipulation of pictures in a manner that distorts reality and accuracy of news shall be avoided.

IV. Relatives of Crime accused:

• 4.1. Pictures of grief, disaster and those that embarrass and promote sexism shall be discouraged. ETV Bharat shall not identify relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime unless the reference to them is necessary for the full, fair and accurate reporting of the crime or legal proceedings.

V. Violent Acts:

• 5.1. ETV Bharat shall avoid presenting acts of violence, armed robberies, banditry and terrorist activities in a manner that glorifies the anti-social acts.

VI. Advertisements:

• 6.1. ETV Bharat shall have a distinct advertisement policy.
• 6.2. It shall identify advertisement as advertisement and never mislead the viewer.

VII. Hatred:

• 7.1. ETV Bharat shall not quote persons making derogatory remarks based on ethnicity, race, creed, colour and sex.
• 7.2. It shall avoid all kinds of racist or negative ethnic terms.
• 7.2. As a people’s media, ETV Bharat shall take careful account of the possible effect upon the ethnic or racial group concerned, and on the population as a whole.