Reply #19: Journalist's Creed

[H2O Man]

I believe in the profession of journalism. I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of lesser service than the public service is a betrayal of this trust; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another's instructions or another's dividends; that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests; that supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.

-- from a plaque in the foyer of the National Press Club in Washington, DC.