Jim Lehrer, the veteran PBS broadcaster who died Thursday [Jan. 23, 2020], held himself to strict standards. Lehrer, who co-founded PBS News Hour, held himself to these rules:

• Do nothing I cannot defend.
• Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.
• Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.
• Assume the viewer is as smart and as caring and as good a person as I am.
• Assume the same about all people on whom I report.
• Assume personal lives are a private matter, until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise.
• Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories, and clearly label everything.
• Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes, except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously.
• And, finally, I am not in the entertainment business.