Public enlightenment is the cornerstone of democracy and the foundation of environmental and social responsibility. Journalism informs, engages, inspires, and activates people in their role as free market participants and self-governing citizens.

Our duty as journalists and commentators is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. That means testing the accuracy of information from all sources, exercising vigilance to avoid error, distortion, or misinformation.

We strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty in the ways we gather, report and interpret information. We differentiate news from opinion from advertising. We do not republish press releases verbatim. We promote our content honestly, and link to original sources without attempting to profit in the process.

Professional integrity is the cornerstone of our credibility. We are ultimately accountable to our readers, listeners and each other. We treat sources, subjects and our audiences as human beings deserving of privacy and respect. We keep our content free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know, and we disclose unavoidable conflicts of interest.

The purpose of Energy Priorities is to provide information, ideas and commentary on environmentally sustainable business, in non-technical language, with insights that help our audience take the actions they deem appropriate. Our content is published in the public interest by P5 Group, Inc., Seattle USA. The magazine is registered with the United States Library of Congress; its International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is 1938-7326.

The Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, which is widely shared in newsrooms and taught in journalism classrooms, provided the foundation of, and much of the language for, this Code of Ethics. SPJ's code dates back to 1926 and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Ethics is a complex and subjective area of journalism. We welcome your comments and questions about journalistic ethics.