By Grace Golembiewksi 

 One of the first things I was taught in multiple journalism classes was the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics. The Code is a thorough and descriptive list explaining the four principles it believes journalists should abide by in the field. These are seeking truth and reporting it, minimizing harm, acting independently, and being accountable and transparent.

 In some of my film classes, I was taught to take pictures/film until you were told not to be there anymore and to always put my camera behind me so security guards would not take it from me. On the other hand, this would not fly in a journalistic piece. I truly believe that documentary and journalism overlap in several areas, which was one of the main reasons I pursued both for my studies.

 However, it made me think while journalists have these pillars to use as their moral guide, documentary filmmakers do not have a set guide of ethical standards within the industry. 

In a conversation with DePaul University film Professor Susanne Suffredin, she stated that “there are no hard and fast rules for the ethics around what you end up filming or making as a documentarian. It’s usually case by case, and it’s often up to the individual, which makes it more complicated because you’re asking the individual to bring a certain amount of integrity and ethical awareness, and behavior to what they’re doing. Because it’s not strictly defined, not everybody adheres to it in the same way.” 

 Like in journalism, documentarians hold a lot of power, specifically the power of a trustful audience, but with great power comes great responsibility. Sadly, an audience’s trust can be easily exploited. One example from the Center for Media and Social Impact is the film Plandemic (2020), which continued the spread of misinformation about Covid-19. I even remember when the docuseries Tiger King was released, sitting in film school questioning why this was labeled as a documentary when it was filmed more like a reality show, even going as far as to speculate a murder.  

While chatting with me, Prof. Suffredin stated that even though there may not be a set of guidelines documentarians must refer to, she found similarities between the journalistic Code of Ethics and ethics emphasized by many documentary filmmakers. Documentary filmmakers often seek truth, film it, and go even further to examine the meaning of truth. While they might not attribute each fact presented, filmmakers often tell the audience the point of view that the film focuses on. There is a strict yet unspoken rule that documentary filmmakers must never pay their subjects, with exceptions such as life rights, just as you never pay a source in journalism. Suffredin believes and hopes that documentarians seek to do no harm or, if they do, explain the reason behind this potential harm. 

 Suffredin stated, “you [the filmmaker] give the audience some guidelines to let them know what to expect. As long as you adhere to those guidelines, I think the audience both trusts you and trusts the film…And then ultimately, once the film is out, or whatever you’ve made is out, it gives the public, the audience, whatever venue that it’s being viewed in, the opportunity to come back with questions and say, ‘well, wait a minute, you said this, is this true?’ So, it does become a conversation.” 

The Center for Media and Social Impact suggests that journalists and film critics become part of this conversation, and I could not agree more! By using watchdog sites to actively report on documentary topics, increasing journalistic coverage of the documentary film industry, and film critics analyzing the documentary form, these methods can hold documentarians accountable for the information provided in their films. As the documentary film audience expands, the Center for Media and Social Impact believes it is the journalist’s and critics’ duty to hold documentary films accountable through discussion. 

 As a journalist and documentarian, myself, I find it essential to recognize the different ethical standards for journalism and documentary, written or unwritten, and ensure accountability within the documentary film community. 

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