For the Record

Are we too fast for our own good?

Dean Wright is Global Editor, Ethics, Innovation and News Standards. Any opinions are his own.

One thing I’ve tried to be consistent about in this column is the notion of transparency.

As I’ve written, at a time when trust is such an endangered commodity in the financial and media worlds, it’s important that news consumers see the guidelines our journalists follow. That’s why we made our Handbook of Journalism available free online.

But it’s also important to remember that handbooks don’t do journalism. Journalists do. And journalists are continually facing new challenges in a brutal economic climate with tough competition and a news cycle that is measured in seconds — or less.

So in the interests of transparency, I want to share with you a piece written by my colleague Sean Maguire, who is Reuters editor for political and general news. Recently, I introduced a panel discussion in London on journalism ethics, sponsored by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Sean, a panel participant, was questioned sharply about how Reuters handled a report on Sept. 11 about Coast Guard vessels supposedly involved in a gun battle on the Potomac River. Were we too quick to pick up a story quoting another news organization? Here’s what Sean had to say.

Handbook response: G is for global

Dean Wright is Global Editor, Ethics, Innovation and News Standards. Any opinions are his own.

Last month we made our Handbook of Journalism freely available online, and the response has been gratifying.

Since then, several thousand of you–hundreds each day– have visited the Handbook and a quick analysis of the traffic shows how global the audience is.

Visitors have come from 106 countries. Not surprisingly, about 32 percent of visits have come from the United States and 16 percent from the United Kingdom. But Germany accounted for 7 percent of visits. Rounding out the top 10 are Canada, Singapore, India, Russia, South Africa, Australia and Brazil.

Visitors have viewed 207 separate pages and are averaging just under three pages per visit. Some are using it much more intensely: One visitor spent 32 minutes with the handbook and visited 72 pages. Of visitors from the top 10 countries, Brazilians are spending the most time with the handbook per visit.

We’ve already had some useful feedback and comments on my column. One visitor wrote to note some inconsistencies in our American spelling style, which we’ve adjusted. Others have suggested possible new entries, which we’re exploring.

Coming soon: A button on the main page of the handbook, which will make it easier for you to provide feedback; and an easier route to the handbook from Reuters.com.