Media Law - Defamation and Libel

Defamation and Libel are arguably the biggest stumbling blocks for a journalist. In order to understand the risks it is important to understand what defamation is and how it can lead to libel.

Defamation is defined as a statement which:
- exposes a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt
- causes them to be shunned and avoided
- lowers their standing in the minds of right thinking people
- or discredits them in their occupation or work place

A person is libelled if they are defamed, if they are clearly identified and the statement is published to a third party.

As a journalist it is incredibly important to avoid 'accidentally' defaming a person, by juxtaposition libel, or jigsaw identification. Juxtaposition libel refers mainly to newspapers and the layout of a page. For example, printing the headline "Murderer" next to a picture of an unrelated person would imply that the person pictured was a murderer. This is a libellous offence. Jigsaw identification occurs across the media and refers to when more than one media organisation reports on a case using different information, meaning the audience can piece together who the person is even if they have anonymity.

There are three defences for libel:

- Justification: it is provably true
- Fair comment: it is your honestly held opinion, said without malice, and is in the public interest
- Qualified Privilege: something that is said in court and has been reported contemporaneously, accurately and fairly

Media Law - Confidentiality and Privacy

The following are my notes from the Confidentiality and Privacy lecture.

- Must be wary of breaching the Official Secrets Act of 1989
- There is much disputed territory between Article 8 and Article 10 - the right to a private life and the right to freedom of speech
- PCC definition of public interest:

Exposing crime that the police have failed to

Exposing harm to the community

Exposing corruption

- You must think in the public interest NOT just of interest to the public

- no defence against official secrets act - military/ state secrets
- all editors are given advisory notices eg don't publish military secrets
- Met police trying to use Official Secrets Act to force a guardian journalist to reveal his source

common law secrets
- have a right to keep secrets
- third party breach of confidence - THIS IS A CRIME

- "we have seen a document.." don't say you have possession - must find out the other side of the story

- something is confidential if:
1. quality of confidence
2. circumstance imposing an obligation
3. no permission
4. detrimental to the person

common law - judges making the law as they go along
statutory law - parliament legislation

consent
- explicit - signed contract
- implicit - aware of camera eg waving

A key case in Privacy Law is Princess Caroline of Monaco in 2004

- injunction gets you anonymity
- super injunction means you can't even mention the injunction
- an injunction against one is an injunction against all media

Media Law - Copyright

For this semester's copyright lecture we had a former copyright advisor to the BBC. Below are the main points from the lecture.

Definition: original work that is of a literary, sound, performance, design rights, graphics nature.

Can you use it?
- Copyright is the same as a property right
- Copyright starts as soon as something has been published
- For educational purposes you are covered
- Example of a busker- you cannot use his singing

Exemptions from copyright:
- research
- criticism or review - "courtesy of.."
- public event
- incidental rather than featured

You must have written consent for all work you use and the copyright lasts for the life of the author and seventy years after their death. Sound on the other hand is clear fifty years
after he death of the composer. However, songs can be re-mixed to clear them through copyright.
EVERYTHING is copyrighted in films - producer, director, actor, set design, costume etc

A Trade Off refers to company product placing and is free of charge.

Promotion on a chat show etc is clear, as long as you have permission and don't alter the footage.

Media Law - Qualified Privilege

Below are the main points from this semester's lecture on Qualified Privilege


Defences
1. Justification
- absolute defence for libel
- although not for privacy laws (use ryan giggs case)

2. Fair Comment
- sincere belief and;
1. no malice
2. honest opinion based on fact
3. public interest

3. Qualified Privilege
- common law and statutory
- means exemption from the law
- the queen has this
- absolute privilege - all judges have it when in court
- as a journalist we have QP, not AP, so you can report what is said as long as it is fast, accurate and fair
- always think in the public interest
- first available edition for your broadcast

Positive malice - refers to 'freebies' etc

Must include the plea and the words "the case continues"

Must have equal prominence to prosecution and defence - stick to judges summary and verdict

Parliament is protected under Qualified Privilege - it is legally a court eg Dennis Skinner vs George Osbourne

Common law QP
"For the common convenience of society" eg in references
- The Clegg case - Irish soldier who shot some youths
- Anti-IRA campaign to get him out of prison
- accused lawyers or being IRA terrorists
- campaign groups have common law privilege now

Reynolds ten point test
1. must be of a serious matter
2. must have documentation from official report
3. must have a reliable source
4. must have taken steps to verify the allegation or story
5. must have important status eg not an old matter
6. must be printed with urgency
7. must seek comment from the claimant
8. must have the gist of the claimants side of the story
9. must be of a serious tone of the article
10. must be published in the first available broadcast - eg the circumstances of the publication

Must get the claimants side of the story - they will defend it!

Key cases are as follows:

- Loutchansky case

- Galloway case- Daily Telegraph

Public interest PCC Code of Conduct
- exposing crime
- exposing health risks to the community
- preventing the public from being misled

Media Law - Lecture Two

Court reporting is extremely important for broadcast journalists. Knowing what you can report, and particularly at what time during a trial is vital.

Within crime reporting a journalist is constantly wary of contempt and prejudice.

In my previous blog I mentioned Chris Jeffries' case. The newspapers breached contempt of court by printing that Jeffries was a 'killer', despite the fact he had not been convicted, thus prejudicing any possible jury against him.

What can you write when a case becomes active?

Firstly, a case becomes active when an arrest has been made, be it through a verbal arrest or an arrest warrant, or a summons has been issued. When a case is active you can report the following details:

- name, age, address and occupation of the accused
- charges against them
- name of court and Magistrates' names
- name of solicitors
- date and place where court is adjourned
- bail arrangements
- whether legal aid is granted

There are three types of crimes heard at Magistrates or Crown Court:

- Indictable = can be sentenced to five years or more
- Either way = heard at either Crown or Magistrates
- Summary = only heard at Magistrates

A Magistrate has a certain amount of power. They can sentence a person to up to six months in prison for each offence, fine a person up to £5000 or give a suspended sentence. They can also adhere social restrictions like asbos.

Knowing the structure of a trial is also important for a journalist, as to avoid unequal prominence you must report both sides of the trial. For example, if you report the prosecution opening you must then report the defence opening. Below is the structure of a trial:

- Prosecution opening
- Prosecution witnesses
- Cross-examination
- Defence opening
- Defence witnesses
- Cross-examination
- Prosecution and defence may address the court
- Sentencing
- Judges Summary

It is also worth knowing that in Court a criminal case must be "beyond all reasonable doubt" whereas civil is "on the balance of probabilities".

Media Law Lecture One

It has been a year that has seen media law thrown into the spotlight with high-profile cases like the phone hacking scandal, super injunctions and the likes of Wikileaks.

Matters of privacy law and the conflict of Article 8 - the right to a private life - and Article 10 - freedom of expression - have been debated both in and out of the media.

Today we spoke of the case of Chris Jeffries, who was wrongly accused of the murder of Joanna Yates. He was highly defamed in the media. The British newspapers broke the law by calling him a murderer - if he was put to trial his jury would have been prejudiced against him because of of the media coverage around the case.

The Jeffries case has highlighted how the ethics of journalists are being brought under question. Just look at the News of the World's dramatic decline after it was revealed they were hacking into the phones of celebrities and the families of murder victims, such as the family of Milly Dowler.

Today we also looked at the hierarchy of the English Court System.

Below is a diagram of the court's. In simple terms, if a case is appealed from Magistrate's Court it is heard in Crown Court, then High Court, the Court of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court.




People we should know as journalists:
- Lord Paul Judge who is the Lord Chief Justice
- Kier Starmer QC who is the Director Public Prosecutions
- Ken Clark who is Tory Justice Minister

Above all, today's law lecture has taught me to recognise the risks as a journalist - to always know the law and the consequences of reporting something.

Evacuation!

It has just been confirmed that offices along Commerce Way, Purley Way are being vacated on the advice of the police.

The offices are situated near the the PC World store which was attacked by rioters and looted last night.

The morning after the night before.

I have just got home from Croydon town centre - instructed to leave by security guards because it simply is not safe. The Whitgift Centre, the main shopping centre, has been closed and the glass doors in the building are being reinforced with wooden panels.

Reinforcement and protection are also a common theme along Church Street, the road which joins the now well-known Reeves' Corner. Shopkeepers have closed early, after securing pieces of wood onto their shop fronts. People are desperate to protect their livelihood: the owner of a bridal shop said she would just be pleased to have a paying customer having stayed open until 6 p.m. yesterday evening, by which time most of the shops had been closed for several hours.

Reeves itself is now a shell. Despite the area around the smouldering building being completely cordoned off, crowds of people gather to see the damage for themselves, taking videos and photographs. I over-hear a man, head-in-hands, "I'm just hear to help clear out a friend's shop".

Rumours of further attacks are rife on social networking websites and local residents are preparing for another night of expected riots.

Latest Reports

The latest report from Croydon is that the riot has spread to the shops on Purley Way. Rumours among local residents are that the multi-chain stores Currys and PC World are being looted.

Six police vans have been sighted travelling along Mitcham Road towards the lombard roundabout and the Purley Way area.

No reports have been confirmed.

London Riots hit Croydon

As I am writing the smoke from Croydon town centre billows overhead. The London riots, which began as a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the death of Mark Duggan, have spread to the town.

West Croydon has been the worst hit, particularly Broad Green where several buildings including a local music shop have been set alight.

The furniture store Reeves; a landmark in Croydon which stands on Reeve's Corner, has been the biggest structural casualty so far. The building is now engulfed in flames. From my own house, less than ten minutes away from the burning building, I can see plumes of thick black smoke. The sounds of helicopters and sirens are ever present.

Along Mitcham Road, one of the main roads out of the town centre, people are gathering outside of their homes to witness the scenes for themselves.

In the last three days riots have taken place across the city, were looting and arson attacks have been rife.

Pray for Jay - AFC Totton XI versus Brockenhurst FC XI

Follow this link to see extended highlights of the charity game played at AFC Totton's ground in aid of Jay Young.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcgqBHcFEmw

The game was organised to raise money for Jay's rehabilitation treatment and the teams were made up of close friends and players from two of Jay's former clubs.

All money taken on the gate, as well as proceeds from other fundraising activities on the day, went towards his specialist treatment.

Hope you all enjoy the film.

Filmed and Edited by Aimee Pickering

Tom Wolfe and The New Journalism

Tom Wolfe’s New Journalism deals with what made the new style of journalism so absorbing and gripping. Social realism is incredibly important to the new journalists and it was said that the most important literature being written in America at the time of the movement was non-fiction. There are a few specific devices that new journalism uses and below are notes from the chapters in which they are discussed.

1. The Feature Game

- a humorous, detailed lead up to Wolfe’s work on the New York Herald Tribune
- in his opinion, reporters at the time lacked ambition
- journalism is a game –its all about getting the scoop and is rife with competition
- all journalists were working towards, what Wolfe calls, the final triumph – writing a novel
- Wolfe had very little respect for feature stories
- Portis, Breslin, Schaap, Mok and the “fat man” – Wolfe would do anything for a story
- The importance of the novel: a psychological phenomenon
- “By the 1950s The Novel had become a nationwide tournament” asserts Wolfe
- Portis lived ‘the dream’ – he wrote a novel, in a fishing shack in Arkansas

2. Like a Novel

- the increasing popularity of novel writing influenced traditional journalism – using conventions from a novel
- reporters started finding stories for themselves
- Wolfe had a dim view of local reporters, believing they ‘ran out of stories’ far too quickly
- Approaching journalism in the same way you would a novel; with imagination
- Writing with a different point-of-view – for example, beginning with narration
- Writing in a different dialect, known as chameleon writing, to attract a larger audience and simply make the writing more interesting
- Resulted in more intense, detailed and time consuming journalism that entered into the audience’s mind rather than merely stated facts
- Included an over-use of punctuation
- Tom Wolfe pioneered New Journalism, bringing it away from the novel’s stylistic writing

3. Seizing the Power

- The New Yorker affair – April 1965
- The Columbia Journalism Review and the New York Review of books
- June 1966, The personal voice and the impersonal eye – the literary world was starting to recognise non-fiction as an artistic form
- Works such as “M”, a book on the Vietnam way by a reporter and “Paper Lion” a piece on American football
- The 1960s – realism, scene-by-scene construction, full dialogue, third-person point of view and describing everyday things
- Truman Capote used third-person point of view, although Wolfe was highly critical of this technique

George Orwell and the politics of language

Below is a brief look into the politics of language:

The main thing I took away from the HCJ lecture on language was thus: if you can control language, you can manipulate reality. Language is the way in which we express and determine facts, and so if you can control it you control what people believe is true - ultimately the way in which they live.

George Orwell writes about the idea of 'thought crime' in his celebrated novel '1984'. This is the idea that the state can even control your mind and the way you think. Orwell has been championed by many as the best journalist in the English language. He was politically left-minded but anti-Communist.

He created the phrase "Doublethink" - believing that two contradictory statements are true and therefore controlling thought. His most famous phrase was “Newspeak” and referred to the way in which thought was controlled through the use of language.

Orwell took this concept from Totalitarianism and was horrified at the use of propaganda – controlling language through censorship and complete media control.

The use of euphemisms in language became incredibly important with linguistic reform and the introduction of politically correct language and metaphorical speech. Orwell heavily influenced this reformed language and examples of this include “War is Peace” and referring to nuclear weapons as “the Deterrent”.

In modern day almost all advertising is Orwellian – we constantly speak in metaphors, similes and euphemisms.

From the lecture I learnt that in a journalist’s world there are four things you must never do with language:

1. never use a cliché

2. never use a long word when a short one is adequate

3. never use the passive form when you can use the active

Albert Camus and The Outsider

Below are my notes on the HCJ lecture and seminar on Albert Camus' work 'The Outsider' and the philosophical theory of Phenomenolgy..

- Phenomenology – making the familiar, unfamiliar
- Consciousness is intentional, and meaning is fixed subjectively
- Knowing is a structure: some ideas have more priority than others – it depends on intention
- Heidegger – accepts that Husserl’s idea that consciousness is nothing without intention
- CHOOSING: what is the source of decisions?
- There is no individual (against the enlightenment and romanticism)
- Kant asserts that all people are fundamentally the same
- Existence is “Dasein” – a way of being/ a structure of your decision
- Time for Heidegger is ‘the structure of being’
1. The past = guilt
2. The present = dread
3. The future = unknown or fear
- existentialism – don’t care about the past or future – no consequences

In the book:
- Meursault is a 'hero' – non-romantic, racist, murderer, existentialist, refuses to be determined by other people
- has no guilt about his actions
- there are no consequences in his world, despite the views of other people

The main theories and learning points from Semester 2 of HCJ...

The Verification Principle:

The verification principle comes from the concept of logical positivism and is the idea that any proposition must be verified, otherwise it is left meaningless. Essentially it is concerned with truth claims – things are either true, false (if they cannot be verified) or meaningless. Within this there is a logical problem, as no proposition can prove itself. In Austria, the Vienna Circle (a group of philosophers) actively lived by logical positivism, believing in Wittgenstein’s attitude to philosophy. They assert that there are two types of things: things that can be related to experience or empirical knowledge and can therefore logically proven to be true, and things that can’t and are thus meaningless.

As a journalist, it is important to find links between our HCJ course and professional life, and the verification principle is incredibly applicable to a journalist’s day-to-day life. A journalist is concerned with fact – is this true? How do we know it is true? And how can we prove it, should we need to? There is a constant doubt surrounding journalism – one wrong fact and you could be facing the end of your career. The most applicable aspect of logical positivism, in my opinion, is the methodical approach to verifying something. There is no innate knowledge, so coming at a fact as if it is false and working to prove it is key.

Phenomenology:

Phenomenology is a concept we have come back to again and again on the course. In broad terms it can be defined as a branch of philosophy that deals with subjective experience. Kant began the concept of phenomenology with his ideas of phenomena. In his opinion, everything has a phenomenal and a noumenal nature. The phenomenal nature is things that are perceived, whilst the noumenal nature is concerned with when things are unperceived. It’s the classic – if a tree falls in the wood and no-one is around, does it still make a sound? In the same vain, if we look away from something there is a theory that it remains in place, but becomes‘different. This is confirmed by modern science and quantum mechanics.

Husserl asserts that we all have intention- if you want to see something, you will. Thus YOU create the world.

Economics - Keyne and Hayek


Keyne and Hayek had very different views on economics. The Great Depression brought about the Keynesian revolution – from the war to the 1950s/60s. The Government printed money because of the cost of war, which lead to inflation (HOWEVER full employment which Keyne advocated). In Keyne's mind it was good to print money! “Better to have people digging holes and filling them up again than unemployed” However Hayek criticised this plan as it led to huge state control; all people were ultimately employed by the state. Hayek disputed that money influences anything. This very much links back to Arendt and Totalitarianism – the lack of freedom from the state. Keyne wanted to steer the markets whilst Hayek wanted them set free, although understandably both economists feared a boom and bust cycle. For Hayek the capital structure was key and any bad investments could ruin the economy – SAVING was vital. For Keyne EMPLOYMENT was more important and in fact the main solution for the Depression.

Wittgenstein and The Tractatus

The opening chapter of The Tractatus concerns the world and how we define it. Wittgenstein asserts that "the world is everything that is the case" and that "the world is the totality of facts, not of things".

Wittgeinstein rejects naïve materialism and idealism – there are no ‘perfect’ things.

The concept of Logical Positivism, as mentioned above, was followed by Wittgenstein and states that all knowledge that we can rely on is factual, scientific knowledge. The world is purely made up of facts that are just in our minds, however they all need verifying.

Syllogism = a logical argument which states that facts must be verified by existing facts.

HCJ Semester 2... The New Industrial State – John Kenneth Galbraith

In the forewords and introductions to the book, Galbraith sets out his reasons behind the writing and looks to reply to any criticism. He writes as an insight into corporate society, referring to “technostructure” which is my chosen chapter to analyse. Glabraith tells the reader that the book took him ten years to write, saying it was necessary because corporate society was constantly changing. Galbraith led an interesting life – he was ambassador to President Kennedy in 1961 which he says gave him a lot of knowledge and experience to draw upon when writing. His main point, as far as I can determine, is that in society the individual has increasingly less power. Galbraith was criticised for writing too matter-of-factly: he states “I succeed rather better in telling what exists than in drawing the moral”. But he is quick to remedy this in his new book - he is always writing a new book because things are ever-changing.

Chapter 6 – The Technostructure

The Technostructure is the group of decision makers within a corporation.

As Galbraith has previously stated, the individual’s power is almost a myth. Instead, in the industrial state the power to make decisions lies with groups or committees. He asserts that this is due to the fact that technology requires specialists, simply to understand it. It’s simply not viable for an individual to become a specialist in all the required fields of knowledge. It is much better to have a team of ordinary men, all specialised in their field but only their field, than to have one exceptional man who knows it all – educate them narrowly and deeply.

Also, the organisation of tasks within the industrial state needs more than the individual – another example of their lack of power. However, creating a committee of ‘talented’ people creates a problem in itself – it’s a difficult thing to do. In essence, Galbraith’s point is that all important decisions in the industrial state are made (and should be made) by groups. This has several consequences: lack of a superior to veto a group decision (because one individual can only be superior to another individual). This is why the significant decisions made by a corporation are made by groups – usually in the middle of the company hierarchy. Any individual who makes a decision is undermining the process.

Below are some key quotes and ideas from Galbraith's chapter on Technostructure:

“The replacement of the free market with a planned solution puts action and decision-making beyond the reach of individuals.”

“The prevalence of group, instead of individual, action is a striking characteristic of management organisation in the large corporation”

The individual has more standing in our culture than a group – they have souls, evoke sympathy and are easily relatable to. However, within business the group is king. To be part of the “group” with which decision making is their task, any individual must first be vetted for reliability and relevance. The need for genius is “dispensed”, as Galbraith puts it, as a group of able yet unremarkable men take on each task. He gives the example of the moon-landings which were orchestrated by great teams of men, not an individual.

“Better orderly error than complex truth” – the example of a farmer from Wisconsin whose life is controlled by the market and society… he need not think or worry. Galbraith discusses how one man ultimately has no power – referring to Major General Leslie R. Groves and the development of the atomic bomb. In the footnotes he writes of his own experience of this during WW2 in which he was put in charge of price control. “Effective power of decision is lodged deeply in the technical, planning and other specialised staff”.

The Technostructure is concerned with asserting control over the company and then retaining it. Long term planning, the predictability of results and the assured reliability of its groups are crucial.