CODE OF ETHICS

Responsibility

Courant staff members are professionals. Their foremost obligation is to perform the duties for which they are employed by The Courant with undivided loyalty. All interpretations as to what conduct may be appropriate in a particular situation will stem from this fundamental premise.

In other words, an individual's interests outside the paper shall not come into conflict with -- or create the appearance of conflict with -- the staff member's professional duties at The Courant.

Free-lancers (e.g., reporters, photographers, artists) have the same basic duty not to have their private lives come into conflict with their work for The Courant. It shall be the responsibility of the free-lancer's editor to inform the free-lancer of Courant policy and to make sure a conflict does not exist.

Use of Courant connections

Employees shall not use Courant connections for their own benefit, or to benefit a third party.

Staff members shall not use their positions at The Courant to obtain, for themselves or for any other person, any benefit or advantage in commercial transactions and personal business. It is improper for a staff member, for instance, to write a letter of complaint to a merchant on Courant stationery or to try to imply a threat to a merchant to "call back at The Courant."

The standard is that Courant staff members shall not seek or accept any benefit or advantage not afforded to the general public.

Relationships

Nepotism is contrary to The Courant's equal opportunity employment policy and inconsistent with sound managerial practices. Therefore, it is the policy of The Courant not to hire any relative of a Courant employee if the employee would participate in the decision to hire the relative or could, directly or indirectly, participate in decisions affecting any of the relative's terms and conditions of employment.

Editors are forbidden to hire, use as free-lancers or otherwise pay their spouses, children, parents, in-laws or ex-spouses without the written approval of the managing editor or the editorial page editor. Common sense dictates that employees who have a serious romantic relationship with one another are also subject to this provision of the code.

If, while on the payroll, an employee becomes a relative of another employee in the company, one must not directly or indirectly supervise or participate in decisions affecting any of the other's terms and conditions of employment. Management will make whatever adjustments are necessary to the status of the involved parties to make sure an employee doesn't supervise a relative.

A staff member shall not write about (or photograph or make news judgments about) any person related to him or her by blood, adoption or marriage, or with whom the staff member has or had a close personal or romantic relationship. A staff member who is placed in a circumstance in which this kind of conflict becomes likely shall advise his or her supervisor of the relationship.

Certain staffers -- columnists, for example, or those doing first-person pieces -- may write about their families without its being a conflict of interest.

Gratuities, including admissions, gifts and travel

The acceptance of gratuities of more than token value, whether in products, services or a combination of products and services, is prohibited.

We pay our own way. If it is newsworthy, we can afford it.

Free tickets or passes sent to The Courant shall not be accepted by staff members for themselves or for another person. These include passes or tickets for sports events, movies, theatrical productions, circuses, home shows, concerts, recitals, museums, exhibits, ice shows and all other events for which the public is required to pay an entrance fee. Additionally, discounted tickets may not be accepted unless the general public also may take advantage of the discount.

Staff members who need to attend events for the benefit of The Courant shall pay for tickets and obtain reimbursement from The Courant.

Although we will always try to pay, there may be cases in which it is impossible or very impractical to buy a ticket. In such cases, the staffer may accept a free ticket, and The Courant will then donate a sum of money, equal to the price of the ticket, to an appropriate non-profit group.

Reporters and photographers assigned to cover spectator, sporting or political events may make use of such facilities as review seats, press boxes, press rooms and photo galleries in furtherance of such assignments. If these are seats that might have been sold to the public, The Courant will pay for such accommodations, or make a donation to a non-profit group.

Access to press boxes, press galleries and press rooms may be granted to other reporters, photographers and staff members on those occasions when the access is necessary to develop information or skills. A sportswriter may occasionally need to observe an event, for example, to gather material or insight for future use. Supervisors are responsible for making certain that inappropriate advantage is not being taken of such situations.

Night club admission costs or cover charges, and the costs of necessary meals incurred on company business, shall be paid by The Courant. Staff members may encounter situations in which it is socially awkward, or even impossible, to pay for a meal or entertainment; in such situations they shall use good judgment in deciding how far to press an insistence on paying, with the clear understanding that such situations are rare and may not be entered into habitually.

Occasionally, someone may buy a staff member a drink. This is regarded as a simple courtesy and the staff member shall undertake at an appropriate opportunity to repay the courtesy.

Staff members shall not accept business-connected gifts, free rooms, sample merchandise, special reduced rates, funds provided by gaming establishments and race tracks, or any other low-pay or no-pay arrangement. Bottles of liquor or wine shall be considered gifts of more than token value.

Such gifts shall be immediately returned to the sender with a polite explanation that company policy does not permit the acceptance of such gifts. In cases where it is impractical or impossible to return a gift, the gift is sent to the managing editor's office, or to the office of the editorial page editor, which will arrange to donate it to a charity and to write the sender explaining what has been done.

Free trips may not be accepted, except in the most rare circumstances, and then only with approval of the managing editor or, for editorial writers, the editorial page editor. Transportation necessary to the performance of company business shall be paid by The Courant in all possible cases.

Review materials

Books, recordings, videotapes and the like sent to The Courant for review purposes are accepted as news releases, and become the property of The Courant.

Books, recordings, etc., that are not reviewed shall be made available to a public or charitable institution.

Books, recordings, etc., that are of particular use to a specialist on The Courant staff -- for example, a volume dealing with Greek architecture that would help to inform a writer dealing regularly with architecture -- may be retained by The Courant.

Outside employment

All employees have an obligation to perform the duties for which they are employed by The Courant with undivided loyalty. Any proposed employment with an employer other than The Courant that might interfere with the employee's obligations to The Courant -- either because it would be time-consuming or because it might place the employee in a conflict situation -- shall not be undertaken without the permission of the managing editor or editorial page editor. When an employee has a doubt, he or she should consult these editors.

Writing, editing, making photographs or creating illustrations for any publication in competition with The Courant is prohibited by this code. Publicity or public relations work, including such work done as a volunteer for a charitable organization, is prohibited for full-time and part-time Courant employees.

Free-lance

In general, it is the policy of The Courant to permit employees subject to this code to free-lance for publications that are not in competition with The Courant, provided that the proposed assignment would not otherwise adversely affect The Courant. Therefore, no free-lance assignments shall be accepted or undertaken without the prior written approval of the managing editor or editorial page editor.

The Courant owns all rights, including the copyrights, to all materials prepared or obtained by its employees during the course of their employment. Therefore, no employee shall use or otherwise reproduce such materials for use outside The Courant without having first obtained the written approval of the department head.

Investments

Reporters and editors shall not enter into business relationships with news sources or the subjects of news articles. Reporters and editors shall not invest in a business if the financial interest could be expected to come into conflict with the reporter's or editor's obligations to The Courant.

Reporters or editors with investments or stock holdings in corporations or other business entities shall not write about, edit or make news decisions that involve those corporations or businesses. Reporters covering this type of news must disclose their holdings to the department head.

Where there is any doubt as to the appropriateness of a business investment, it is a staff member's duty to seek a clarification from the department head.

Radio and television

Occasional appearances on radio and television shows, including community cable TV, by Courant staff members are generally permissible but shall be reported in advance to a department head. Staff members, whose work for The Courant is expected to meet high standards of impartiality, shall endeavor to demonstrate a comparable commitment to fairness when on the air.

Fees for occasional appearances must be approved by the managing editor or editorial page editor beforehand. A staff member shall not enter into a commitment for regular involvement with a radio or television program without the prior approval of the managing editor or the editorial page editor.

Political activity and other advocacy

Because the nature of our profession requires fairness, impartiality and the appearance of impartiality, staff members shall exercise great care before becoming involved in any political activity beyond registering and voting. Staff members must be aware that innocent actions (wearing a political button, for example) may give the wrong impression to members of the public. We operate in the public domain -- on and off the job.

In no circumstance may a staff member run for political office or work, for pay or as a volunteer, in a political campaign or organization. If a relative -- spouse, parent, child, brother or sister, for example -- or a close friend is involved in a political campaign or organization, the staff member shall refrain from covering or making news judgments about such a campaign or organization.

A staff member who chooses to become active in a social cause should recognize the potential for conflict and should discuss it with his or her editor. Participation in events such as public demonstrations where a staff member could be involved unintentionally in making the news is discouraged. Making contributions to political or quasi-political groups, signing petitions, etc., should be undertaken with care and with the use of good judgment.

In addition, reporters and editors should bear in mind that if they accept positions of leadership in community groups, they may one day find themselves in conflict with their work at The Courant. On the other hand, we encourage staff participation in voluntary community organizations.

Staff members may hold positions of leadership in groups that have a limited community impact and that do not fall in the normal range of coverage by The Courant. Employees may not be involved in policy-making positions or act as spokesmen for major outside organizations. This does not apply to rank-and-file membership in such groups. Staff members have an obligation to discuss a potential conflict with their editor.

As one of the foremost institutions in the region, The Courant cannot operate in isolation from the community it serves. Executives on the business side of the paper will, from time to time, be members or directors of appropriate community groups.

The editor and publisher, because of his dual role, will also take part in such select community activities. It should be firmly understood that absolutely no preferential treatment will be given to groups to which business-side executives belong.

In the event that a story involves a group of which the editor and publisher is a member, he will excuse himself from any involvement in it. Executives on the business side will list their community activities annually, and the list will be posted. Because of the particularly sensitive nature of his dual role at The Courant, the editor and publisher additionally will list his financial investments annually.