April 1

I think the code of ethics for the New York Times is pretty interesting. When I was at the Times building one of the editor's there talked about the experience of helping create their code of ethics and how many months and years it took to finally finish it. One thing in my section of reading that I noticed and agree with is its extensive coverage of what Time's employees can and cannot do as far as receiving free gifts, tickets or meals and all of the possible ways around it. I also like that they provide a sample letter for employees to use when returning gifts back so if makes the act of doing it easier and less work. I think that is something we should definitely do.
I also think the part about speaking in public and the guidelines Time's employees must follow is smart, but not something that our organization would probably have to worry about at this point, though something we should at least mention and think about in the future. I would also include the part about not using press release materials, such as books, tapes and movies, for distribution. As a food site we will probably get a lot of cookbooks, food samples etc. so it's important to remind our employees that these are for work purposes only and not to be handed out to family and friends.
I thought the section on freelancing was the most useful to our media organization. Most of us in the class will be using a lot of freelancers probably to get off of the ground and running. Let's face it, it's cheaper these days. So I think making them sign a contract that says they must follow the same guidelines as other full-time employees while on assignment is a smart idea and one that we should use.
And as I said before I think the sample letters are great idea and we should have the same courtesy offered to our employees.