How many of your student media bylaws or policy statements include language such as the following?

"Staff members of the Student Times shall abide by such generally accepted ethical responsibilities as those stated in the attached Codes of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Collegiate Press."

While many are covered by such language, few have questioned it. Most journalists don't have any serious objections to statements such as the following taken out of the SPJ's Code:

"Truth is the ultimate goal;" "Journalists at all times will show respect for the dignity, privacy rights and well-being of people encountered in the course of gathering and presenting news;" Journalists are required "to perform with intelligence, objectivity, accuracy and fairness."

All are important and commendable goals. But goals is the key word. Too often school administrators, student government officials - or others outside the newsroom - cite such codes to justify their attempts to fire a student newspaper's editor, suspend funding or censor copy.

"That article was not objective," they claim. Or "Your story was unfair."

Yet codes such as the SPJ or ACP ethics codes were never intended to be externally enforced. Their language is - and was meant to be - aspirational not legal or punitive in tone.

Indeed, as the former Executive Director of the Society of Professional Journalists Ira Perry has said, "The Society's Code is purely voluntary. While we encourage our members to follow its principles, we recognize that there are few situations that can be reduced to black and white statements of fact."

Moreover, any attempt by public school officials to punish a student journalist based on the violation of such a code would probably be unconstitutional. Because of the likelihood of abuse, courts do not allow government officials to regulate speech based on the violation of such vague standards as "fairness," "impartiality," or "objectivity."

That's not to say the violation of an ethical guideline should go ignored. If a reporter has acted in an unfair manner or allowed a conflict of interest to interfere with their reporting, they should be held accountable. Letters to the editor or other public criticisms from any outside source are fair game. But the actual punishment for such violations is the sole responsibility of the student media staff. For example, there is no problem � legal or otherwise � with a student editor firing a reporter who has improperly accepted a gift from a source. There is a big problem when the dean of students or the student government president tries to do the same thing.

Ethical guidelines are important. It's essential that school officials and other outsiders realize, however, that they can't be force-fed.

Visit the Student Press Law Center online at http://www.splc.org.