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
Saturday, November 12, 2011
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:
- 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
- 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.
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
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".
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.
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.
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