Media Law & Ethics - Lecture One, 15/01/14

Topics that will be covered this semester;

• Outline of the legal system 
• Crime reporting and courts
• Libel and defamation
• Investigative Journalism and privilege
• Confidentiality and Privacy
• Freedom of Information
• Copyright and Codes of conduct
• Reporting elections

Ian Anderson, ex senior producer of BBC News will be guiding us through each lecture, helping us to recap any media law issues that we may have forgotten or need updating on.
As journalists it is essential that we know what is legally acceptable and what is completely off limits with Ian emphasising to recognise the risk in everything that we do, 'if in doubt leave it out'.
With the laws changing every year it is important for any journalist to know the latest OFCOM/ Press Complaints Commission regulations, particularly when under scrutiny about what we write and how we ethically act.

With the Levenson inquiry in full swing, there is currently an argument circulating the press as to whether the PCC has failed in relation to phone hacking. The question being asked that is causing huge debate is to whether the press should have their own regulator or should it be kept private? Who polices the press? Newspapers are desperately trying to hold onto their self regulation that does not involve legal statue where as broadcast journalism is in a much more secure position with its regulations in place and working well, with many content to follow these rules.

The court provides journalists with stories due to the qualified privilege right to accurately report from the court. The news this week has been a good example of this with three of Britain's top celebrities appearing in court under charges of sexual assault on minors (operation Yew Tree). The accused; Dave Lee Travis (DJ and Top of the Pops presenter), Rolf Harris (TV personality) and William Roach (Coronation Street's Ken Barlow) have all pleaded innocent.

With the trial beginning the prosecution will open, explaining the details of the case to the jury. As a reporter all we will hear will be the negative parts of the case as the defence has not yet had a chance to speak and put across their points to the jury. This will come later on in the trial and the reporters must report this as well so the story is unbiased. Unfortunately there are many issues surrounding the defamation of the person on trial with a risk of damaging their reputation which I will go into more detail about in the upcoming weeks.

Another story in the news this week that addresses the destruction of character is the case involving Nigella Lawson who appeared in court where her former assistants were on trial for fraud. The source of this came from court and took the media by storm with every publication reporting on the case due to her high celebrity profile. Nigella was there as a witness to the case but people debated whether or not Nigella should have been protected, e.g. had a lawyer present. This was because Nigella was put through a gruelling amount of questioning and scrutiny about her private life regarding drug use. Therefore the argument is; whether a witness in court should be allowed a lawyer as in this circumstance, these kind of revelations are more damaging to Nigella, a high profile celebrity and her reputation than that of an average person.

Another part of the law that we will be looking at will be libel. A change in libel took place last year so we will be given all the information to the updated regulations surrounding this. The regulation basically states that a person can plead libel if the press has 'brought them harm' but the person would need satisfactory evidence to prove this.
A big libel case was famously known as 'McLibel'. McDonald's took a couple to court that were campaigning against their food. Granted the couple were defaming the company but was it necessary to take them to court? The campaigners couldn't afford lawyers and had to defend themselves when in court keeping McDonald's in court for months which cost them millions. This is an unlikely case but the chance of it happening again is plausible. Small campaigners against big worldwide corporations is an unlikely battle but occasionally happens which is good for small hyper local news corporations.

The Hierarchy of the UK courts;

1. At the top is the Supreme court
2. Below the Supreme court is the Court of Appeal which is split into; Civil division and Criminal division
3. High court of Justice split into; Queens Bench division, Family division, Chancery division
4. Crown court (Criminal division)
5. Magistrates court (Criminal division)
6. Country court (Chancery division)