The Seventh-day Adventist Church recently published a Portuguese-language document titled “Editorial Principles,” outlining guidelines to be followed by its media institutions and areas of communication in South America.
The main objective of the material is to harmonize the vision and approach on general issues and specifics treated by ecclesiastical vehicles. 

For this reason, it has a set of entries that point out the correct way in which certain topics should be presented and discussed in official materials, such as suicide, legalization of drugs and competitive activities. It also provides conduct guidelines for communicators, based on fundamental values of the segment, such as ethics in research and publication of information, in addition to fidelity to the Church’s doctrines and principles.

The elaboration of editorial principles is a common practice among the media and press, avoiding contradictory and ambiguous approaches in their productions. Felipe Lemos, a veteran journalist and Communication Department leader at the South American Adventist headquarters was a member of the group that prepared the guidelines.

Lemos explained this document will have a direct impact on the institutional image, showing organization and seriousness. It also benefits those who have contact with the communicational contents of the Church, whether they are members or not since, he said, they “can be sure that there is an ethics behind all the information they are receiving and trust that it is contextualized according to the official statements of Adventists.”

The Editorial Principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were developed by specialists who work at the organization's administrative headquarters for South America and at institutions linked to it, including the Novo Tempo Communication Network , the Brazilian Publishing House (CPB) and Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana (ACES) . The content is based on Church manuals and regulations, the Bible, the writings of pioneering Church co-founder Ellen White, as well as academic studies, similar materials produced by other organizations, and the experience of Adventist communication in the territory over the years.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site