62

In the debate over the ethics of journalism, the journalists’ unions find it hard to be heard. Yet, the will to moralise the profession was at the core of the creation in 1918 of the Syndicat des journalistes. This aim was materialised, the same year, by the adoption of the Covenant of Rights and Duties. The creation of the Press card in 1935 was, among other reasons, based on the same rationale. In practice, however, for legal reasons as well as because of a lack of consensus among the profession, the Press Card Committee fails to play the role of an ethical watchdog body called for by some. But the ethical failures may also find their origin in the material and economic conditions under which journalists practice their work. And this issue is a classical battlefield for journalists-unions.