The Society of Professional Journalists proposes edits to its code of ethics for the AI age

The Society of Professional Journalists has unveiled its first update to its code of ethics in over a decade, responding to seismic shifts in how news reaches Americans. Per Nieman Lab, the committee cited two major drivers: about one in five Americans now get their news from social media influencers and content creators rather than traditional outlets, and fifty-six percent of journalists now use generative AI at least weekly. The updated code introduces new tenets on identifying misinformation and verifying the authenticity of sources—and includes sharper language to guard against AI-generated imagery being published as fact. Strikingly, the word 'AI' doesn't appear in the revised code itself; the committee sidestepped it to avoid dating the standards, much as they avoided 'social media' in the code just over a decade ago. A new clause emphasizes that journalists are ethically responsible for their work regardless of the tools they use—a clear assertion of human accountability even when AI lends a hand. SPJ members will vote on the proposal at their national convention this October.

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