There are many rules of journalism, an important one is to never assume. Never assume to know the thoughts of someone you are interviewing or writing about. It is a known fact of life that you cannot see into the minds of others. It would be easy to assume that if a person you are interviewing is talking about how they are pro-life that they identify with being a republican, but you must not print that statement unless they distinctly said that they are a republican. Although sometimes it is easy to assume by doing so you could print false information, thus damaging your credibility as a reporter, the credibility of the news establishment you work for and potentially make some people very angry.  

Never assume that the reader has a certain level of existing knowledge about what you are writing about. Despite just being factual and unbiased journalists also have the job of presenting news in a way that is easily consumable. Not everyone has the same level of intelligence, but most of the general public can read and comprehend information at a sixth-grade level. Background information is necessary in any story. If you are writing about a person, who is the individual you are talking about? What have they done that warrants writing about them?   

 Never assume that your source is credible or knows what they are talking about. A simple fact of the matter is that people can lie, embellish, and act like they know more than they do. It is important to make sure you have the best sources for your story and that you are interviewing the people who know the most about the subject you’re writing about. Always fact check your sources!