Please tell me the last time you dealt with the SPJ.
Never. And why should I? They’re powerless. They’re nothing more than a glorified fraternity. They have no power to stop people from writing/reporting whatever they want to say. Oh, sure, they can kick you out of their little fraternity, and presumably some people might be down in the mouth about that, but there’s a difference here between the SPJ and real professional state boards of professionals:
You can’t sue a journalist for malpractice.
Who says so? The SPJ that you cite:
“The SPJ Code of Ethics is voluntarily embraced by thousands of journalists, regardless of place or platform, and is widely used in newsrooms and classrooms as a guide for ethical behavior. The code is intended not as a set of “rules” but as a resource for ethical decision-making. It is not — nor can it be under the First Amendment — legally enforceable.”
That’s it. That’s where the rubber meets the road. All the talk, blather and BS that journalists put forth about their “profession” and their precious “code of ethics” is utter noise.
When a doctor, lawyer, engineer, CPA, etc commits acts of malpractice, whether through negligence, fraud or intentional harm, they a) will have a hearing in front of their state board, and stand a real chance to lose their license, b) without their license, they can no longer practice medicine/law/engineering/public accounting, c) are subject to strict liability in civil court, d) if they don’t have professional malpractice insurance, they’re going to have to pay.
A doctor/lawyer/engineer/CPA doesn’t have to “voluntarily” adhere to their code of ethics. They have to adhere or suffer punitive sanctions or possible loss of license.
When I can sue a journalist for malpractice (not libel or slander, but MALPRACTICE) and they suffer loss of their career and a loss in court that awards restitution and punitive damages, call me.