The Evangelical Press Association (EPA) recently announced the adoption of a newly revised Code of Ethics that sets a high moral standard for member publications, including Christian Daily International. Among the most significant changes are new guidelines related to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has raised new opportunities for journalism but also raises questions about boundaries and ethical use, according to comments by EPA.
The EPA issued a press release following its Board of Directors' autumn meeting where the new version was adopted explaining that an ad hoc committee had been commissioned to review the code, which was last revised in 1998.
Timothy Morgan served as the convener of the committee, which also included Jon Hirst, Warren Smith, and Ann Byle. Morgan had previously been a member of a similar committee back in 1998.
“The committee was charged with incorporating the ethical and responsible use of AI in publishing, strengthening guidelines for author-publisher relationships, and reviewing the overall document to ensure relevance and conformity to current industry standards for ethics in journalism,” the EPA stated.
EPA members must agree to observe and act according to the Code of Ethics as a requirement of membership.
Lamar Keener, EPA executive director, explained to Christian Daily International that the former Code of Ethics had been last revised more than 25 years ago. He added that the previous code had limited references to Internet publishing, which was still in its infancy then. The burgeoning popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) also meant the code needed to be significantly revised to be contemporaneously relevant.
“With the adoption of digital publishing over the past two decades and, especially with the recent advances in AI, it was time to revamp the Code,” Keener explained. “The primary objective was to incorporate the ethical and responsible use of AI in publishing.” (Christian Daily International published its own policy on the use of AI tools earlier this year.)
An additional objective has been the inclusion of freelancers, increasingly used by members of the EPA.
“There was also a need to strengthen the guidelines for author-publisher relationships since the use of freelancers has become much more prevalent among our members,” said Keener. “And the committee reviewed the overall document to ensure relevance and conformity to current industry standards for ethics in journalism.”
Christian Daily International has been a member of the EPA since January 2, 2024. In October, Christian Daily International (CDI) won second place in the EPA’s 2024 “Best in Class” awards. The recognition came only ten months after the global news publication launched in English in December 2023, with the Spanish edition Diario Cristiano following in March 2024.
