Individual code of conduct

Translated from the Portuguese. The Portuguese version is the one that stands.

Dear reader, I want to carry out my work as a journalist to the highest ethical and professional standards of the profession. As a matter of transparency, it falls to me to declare the following:

• I am legally qualified to practise journalism under the Portuguese Press Law and am therefore covered by the Journalist Statute.
• My professional credential was issued by the Portuguese journalists’ credentials commission (Comissão da Carteira Profissional de Jornalista) and carries number 6904 A (formerly 10571).
• I am at all times bound by the Journalist’s Code of Ethics, in whichever version is in force at any given moment. All my work is done in good faith.
• I have an exclusive journalist’s employment contract with Swipe News S.A., the media company that publishes titles such as ECO, ECO magazine, Advocatus, Trabalho by ECO, Capital Verde, ECOseguros, Local Online and Fundos Europeus. I am subject to a hierarchy and answer to other journalists (publisher/director, deputy director and assistant directors).
• In exceptional cases, work of mine may appear in publications other than ECO, without prejudice to what I produced previously for other outlets.
• When I detect or am made aware of errors in content for which I am responsible, I do my best to correct them as far as possible and as quickly as possible, making that amendment public.
• I keep my sources anonymous when I am asked to, where what is at stake is sharing information I believe to be in the public interest.
• I refuse payment to report on, cover or investigate a specific subject whose content is defined in advance, or to mention people, companies or other organisations in my work, as is the general rule of the profession.
• I turn down paid invitations or proposals to take part in events as a speaker or moderator where my editorial independence is not assured, which includes complete freedom to choose the subjects to be covered and/or the questions to be asked.
• I do not accept paid invitations or proposals to provide advice or consultancy of any kind.
• I do not write advertising, nor do I lend my name, face or voice to commercial advertising campaigns, although I did so in the past, before beginning my career as a journalist.
• I hold no individual shares in any company, including but not limited to those I cover. I hold units in funds that invest in a broad and diversified set of assets, including exchange-traded index funds and PPR retirement savings funds, but I have no direct control over what goes into their portfolios. I may allocate up to 5% of my portfolio to cryptocurrencies.
• I may accept invitations to attend events, trade fairs or commercial initiatives with expenses paid by the promoter, in cases where there is public interest and no commitment of any kind to cover them. If, during or afterwards, I come to write about the subject, I undertake to inform the reader of the circumstances of the trip.
• I refuse gifts or other offers of significant value. In some cases I may keep t-shirts, mugs, books or other merchandising given by companies, provided their value is only marginal. I may accept invitations or tickets to attend events or festivals, provided this poses no risk to my impartiality.
• I may ask for or accept free demonstrations of software or hardware, strictly on a temporary basis, to better understand the industry I cover or to write reviews of editorially relevant programs or equipment. Where I do, I inform the reader of that circumstance.
• I stood as an independent candidate for the MPT in two elections: first at the head of the list for the presidency of Tomar town council in the 2013 local elections; then on the list for the 2014 European elections, in a non-electable position (12th). Both candidacies took place before I worked as a journalist, and I have never been a member of any party or political group.
• I express my opinions in complete freedom of conscience and entirely without commitment. They bind me alone, and I alone am responsible for them.

Flávio Daniel Gameiro Nunes