BUSINESS STORIES
In stories dealing with business transactions, especially court reports, it is particularly important that the reporter get the names right. “Brown and Co.” may be the name of one corporation and “the Brown Company” of another. Don’t confuse the two.
Don’t call a firm bankrupt simply because a petition has been filed asking that it be declared bankrupt. Wait until the case is decided in court.
In general—and this cannot be stressed too much—remember that the reporter has power to do irreparable harm by a careless or malicious statement. An unwarranted aspersion may work an injury that no subsequent correction can wholly undo. A statement in print is final; it cannot be amended or softened as can the spoken word. It is part of the news writer’s plain duty—to himself, his newspaper and the public—to choose his words carefully, in order that no misconstruction may be placed upon them. More important still, he should never forget the obligation that rests upon him to say no thing, directly or by implication, that can harm an innocent person.