Law and ethics
Plagiarism
Passing off someone else's words or work as your own, the one sin that can end a journalist's career outright.
Plagiarism is theft and lying rolled into one: taking another writer's work and passing it off as yours. In journalism it is close to unforgivable, because the whole trade runs on trust. Lifting a few lines from a wire story or a rival without credit has ended careers. Attribute, rewrite in your own words, and when in doubt, credit the source.