NUJ Code of Conduct: The 12 Principles Explained for UK Journalists

What is the NUJ Code of Conduct?

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Code of Conduct sets out the main principles of UK and Irish journalism, and NUJ members are expected to abide by it. It forms part of the union’s rules as Appendix A. Its 12 principles cover media freedom, honest and accurate reporting, correcting harmful inaccuracies, separating fact from opinion, honest means of gathering material, intrusion into private life and grief, protecting sources, resisting inducements, hatred and discrimination, advertising endorsements, children, and plagiarism. The NUJ says the code has been democratically agreed by its members, and complaints that a member has breached it are dealt with through the union’s own Ethics Council rather than by an external body.

The NUJ says the code has set out the main principles of UK and Irish journalism since 1936, and that the current version was updated in 2011. Its stated purpose is to advise members, and other journalists, on how to carry out their work ethically, and the NUJ says journalists have used it over the decades to challenge unethical instructions. Journalists who are not NUJ members can therefore use it as a reference too.

NUJ members work across newspapers, broadcasting, book publishing, magazines, websites, social media and PR agencies, according to the union. For a full clause-by-clause analysis with worked examples, see our complete NUJ Code guide.

When the NUJ Code matters most

• 1When you receive an editorial instruction you believe is unethical — the NUJ believes any journalist has the right to refuse an assignment that would break the code.
• 2When deciding how to handle a confidential source, particularly under legal pressure to disclose.
• 3When reporting on vulnerable people — victims of crime, the bereaved, children — and determining what intrusion is justified.
• 4When someone offers an inducement or applies pressure to influence, distort or suppress information.
• 5When a complaint about your work or conduct is made to the NUJ Ethics Council by a union member or branch.
• 6When you are representing yourself in an employment dispute and need to demonstrate that your conduct met the professional standard.
• 7When you discover a harmful inaccuracy in your work and need to understand the Code expectation that you do your utmost to correct it.

The 12 principles in summary

Each card below gives the NUJ’s own wording of one principle; on the NUJ page the list is introduced with “A journalist:”. The NUJ says the current code was updated in 2011. Always read the full text at nuj.org.uk for the authoritative wording.

NUJ Code vs IPSO, IMPRESS and Ofcom

A key distinction: the IPSO and IMPRESS codes are industry codes written by or for publishers. The NUJ Code is written by journalists and exists to protect journalistic values — including from pressure by employers. An NUJ member working at an IPSO-regulated title is simultaneously subject to both frameworks, but the enforcement routes and sanctions are entirely separate.

Red flags — when you may be at risk of a breach

• ⚠Your editor is pressuring you to publish something you believe is inaccurate or unverified.
• ⚠You are being asked to reveal the identity of a confidential source.
• ⚠You have given way to a threat, inducement or pressure to influence, distort or suppress information.
• ⚠You used deception or misrepresentation to obtain access or information without considering whether public interest justified it.
• ⚠You have reproduced substantial parts of another journalist's work without attribution or consent.
• ⚠You discovered a harmful inaccuracy in your work and did not do your utmost to correct it.
• ⚠You disclosed private information about someone gained in a professional capacity before it was public.

NUJ Code compliance checklist

• Every factual claim in my story is accurate to the best of my knowledge and I have evidence to support it.
• I have not presented opinion or conjecture as established fact.
• I have not disclosed or agreed to disclose any confidential source.
• Where I used subterfuge or misrepresentation, I can document the overriding public interest justification and why other means were unavailable.
• I have resisted any threat or inducement to influence, distort or suppress information in this story.
• I have not plagiarised or reproduced another journalist's original work without consent and attribution.
• If I have discovered a harmful inaccuracy in previously published work, I have done my utmost to correct it.
• I have not used private information gained professionally for personal advantage before it was public.
• I have considered whether reporting on this person intrudes on their private grief, and if so, whether the public interest justification is robust.

The NUJ disciplinary process

Under Appendix C of the NUJ rule book, complaints about the work or behaviour of members that, in the complainant’s view, contravene the code of conduct are made direct by branches or union members to the NUJ’s Ethics Council. The NUJ’s ethics page says the union now limits complaints to those about members by other members; the Council still receives occasional complaints from the public and, if it believes them serious after investigation, will take up the complaint from one of its own members. The procedure for code-of-conduct complaints runs broadly as follows:

1. Conciliation or education first — before initiating a formal hearing, the Ethics Council considers whether the issue can be resolved by conciliation, and it can decide the code is best promoted by resolving the issue through educative means.
2. Decision whether to investigate — the Council, or a complaints panel it appoints, decides whether to make a full investigation. If it finds no case to answer, it gives the complainant its reasons.
3. Hearing — only where conciliation has failed or is inappropriate, and the matter is sufficiently serious, does the Council call a hearing. The member receives details of the complaint and the date, time and place of the hearing in writing, with 21 days’ notice by recorded delivery.
4. Right to reply — the member is given the opportunity to reply to the charges, and may present their own case or be represented by a person of their choice.
5. Finding and penalty — if the Council considers a member guilty of a breach, it may deliver a reprimand and/or recommend penalties to the National Executive Council (NEC), which may impose them. Under Rule 24 of the NUJ rulebook the NEC can fine a member up to £1,000, suspend them for up to 12 months, censure them, or expel them.
6. Appeal — the member can appeal a finding of guilt or penalty to the Appeals Tribunal, with written notice to the General Secretary within 21 days of the NEC’s decision being notified. A complainant who believes the penalty is too lenient, or that the procedure was not followed, can also appeal.

Sources: the NUJ’s disciplinary proceedings (Appendix C) and ethics pages, and Rule 24 of the NUJ rulebook 2025–2027.

Common mistakes

• ›Confusing the NUJ Code with IPSO's Editors' Code — they bind different people and are enforced differently.
• ›Assuming the NUJ Code only matters if you are complained against — it is also a tool you can use to resist unethical instructions.
• ›Thinking the Code does not apply to freelancers — it applies to all NUJ members regardless of employment status.
• ›Underestimating the corrections duty — the Code says a journalist does her/his utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies, so leaving a known harmful error uncorrected is hard to square with it.
• ›Assuming the Code is irrelevant if you are not an NUJ member — the NUJ says its purpose is to advise members, and other journalists, on how to carry out their work ethically.
• ›Overlooking source protection when asked to hand over notes, recordings, or communications to legal teams.

Related guides

Primary sources

• NUJ Code of Conduct (nuj.org.uk)
• NUJ: Ethics Council and complaints process
• NUJ: Journalist's Charter
• IPSO Editors' Code of Practice (for comparison)
• IMPRESS Standards Code (for comparison)
• Ofcom Broadcasting Code (for comparison)

Frequently asked questions