Press Code.
The Code of Ethics and Conduct for South African Print and Online Media is a remarkable instrument for fairness in our country. A free media delivers the information we need to form opinions, this freedom earned through the Constitution. Journalists must commit to the highest standards to keep your trust. If you feel they have not done so, the Press Code is an essential device to understand if you have a case and thereafter to state it clearly, at no cost. It is vital that the Code is not exclusive, thus there are translations on our site from English into isiXhosa, Tshivenda, Sepedi, isiZulu, Xitsonga and Afrikaans allowing you to read it in a language of your choice in full.
The Press Code translations were made possible with the support of fraymedia Foundation.
Promoting press freedom.
Decoding the Code
Our Code of Ethics is a compass without which the media are all at sea. What follows is a discussion by former Press Ombudsman Johan Retief of the latest South African Press Code of Ethics and Conduct, section by section and sentence by sentence, explaining why the issues contained in them are important, and illustrating the principles and consequences involved. This is in the hope that this will provide basic guidelines to journalists.