The Aug. 12 email message from the Society of Professional Journalists surprised me. “SPJ needs feedback on Code of Conduct draft,” the subject line said.

The message invited me to register for an Aug. 14 online meeting “to discuss the working copy” of a Code of Conduct for SPJ events. I could submit questions or comments about the code by Aug. 13 through the SPJ website.

Wow, I thought. This situation is troubling. Why would an organization of print, online, and broadcast reporters and editors; journalism educators; news executives; and other news content creators need formal rules to govern interpersonal interactions at meetings? What have I missed?

The email message said the SPJ board of directors wanted “to foster a friendly, safe and welcoming culture.” A special task force “plans to have standards for expected behavior in place by the annual convention in Las Vegas on Sept. 28.”

The working SPJ conduct code specifically addresses “behavior that others would reasonably perceive as knowingly harassing or humiliating others” at “events and meetings sponsored by or affiliated with SPJ at the national and regional levels.” The proposed SPJ guidelines further prohibit “discriminatory conduct related to age, race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical ability or appearance, religion, or political ideology.”

The conduct code covers all who attend SPJ events. “Violators can be immediately dismissed from events, excluded from in-person or online events and activities, and/or forfeit their SPJ membership,” the draft document says. The document proposes a procedure to warn, suspend, or expel members who violate code provisions.

A Google search yielded no background information on why SPJ might need such behavior rules now. I couldn’t determine if the proposed policies were proactive or reactive.

The SPJ website, where I could submit comments, included links to nine example codes of conduct from other journalism professional organizations. One link showed that SPJ had instituted a code of conduct for its 2019 joint Excellence in Journalism meeting with the Radio Television Digital News Association and National Association of Hispanic Journalists in San Antonio.

Clearly, the idea of conduct rules for meetings of journalists isn’t new or unique to SPJ. I’m obviously out of touch.

The website for the 2023 SPJ convention, by the way, already has “code of conduct” wording on it. The working document extends the rules to all SPJ events and sets up a Participation Standards Committee to respond to complaints about offensive behavior.

The need to establish rules for civil discourse at professional meetings of journalists, procedures for removing people for unruly speech or other behaviors, and a process for punishing offending members still troubles me. I support a “safe and collegial environment” (words from the proposed code) at professional meetings. But I expect those who attend such meetings to treat others with “dignity and respect” as a matter of course. I have always experienced such behavior at the professional meetings I have attended over the past 50 years. What’s changed?

Why would members of a professional organization want to behave in ways that would get them “immediately dismissed from events”? Why would a professional association decide it needed a formal structure to punish members? The whole thing baffles me.

I fully concur with the goal of the proposed code. A welcoming culture at meetings and robust civil discourse are both good. Nevertheless, I question the need for formal behavior guidelines and punishment procedures—no matter how the final wording evolves. To me, this discussion within SPJ—or any professional association, for that matter—of acceptable conduct is a sad commentary on the state of society today. I’m obviously becoming a crotchety old coot.

Copyright © 2023 Douglas F. Cannon