BWI Code of Ethics. BWI Members Approve Ethics Code In Landmark Vote Indicating widespread agreement for principles contained within it, the Boating Writers International membership voted in June 2002, 94% for and 5% against the organization's new Code of Ethics. The ethics document has four primary divisions. First, "editorial independence," is identified as the best way to achieve honesty and excellence in the writers' work. To that end, the guidelines say a publication's editor should have control over all editorial content, photos and front cover artwork. They condemn the practice of trading advertising for editorial content. Second, the guidelines encourage "accuracy, fairness and truth" by editors and writers. Third, they discourage "conflicts of interest," real or perceived, whenever possible. Fourth, they recognize "supporting and associate members" to be an integral part of BWI, and therefore expect them to follow these guidelines. View the Ethics Code (PDF) Fifteen magazines and/or publishers currently ascribe to and/or carry the "we support BWI ethics" logo on their mastheads. They include (in alphabetical order): Bass & Walleye Boats BoatU.S. Magazine Chesapeake Bay Magazine Motor Boating Offshore Powerboat Power & Motoryacht Sailing Soundings Soundings Trade Only The Boating News The Mariner The Sailing Company Trailer Boats The Triton Yachting Supporting Members Honor Roll The following BWI Supporting Members have joined the Honor Roll by voting for the Code of Ethics. Bear Advertising, Inc. Boats.com Bushnell Performance Optics Glenwa, Inc./Cobra Kayaks Gougeon Brothers Grady White Boats KVH Industries Rhodes Communications Richard Lewis Communications Mastercraft Boat Co. Shakespeare, C&E Division SI-TEX Marine Electronics Star Brite Stearns, Inc. Vessel Assist Westerbeke Corporation "We are actively looking for more publications and supporting members to join the roles," says BWI immediate past president Michael Verdon who spearheaded development of the Code. "If you plan to abide by the guidelines, we want to provide recognition for you." Those interested should contact Verdon (michael.verdon@verizon.net) or BWI executive director Greg Proteau (info@bwi.org, 847/736-4142).