Monday, 27 September 2010

Mc Nae's essential law for Journalists- Chapter 1

After reading the opening chapter of Mc Nae’s essential law for Journalists I found my mind full of ideas and points for discussion! This was my first glance at any law followed by journalists and this provided me with a fascinating realisation of how journalists have to closely follow these laws. UK journalists are shown to have a large amount of freedom when reporting, to allow the public to gain knowledge about certain story and events. The media are the main way for the public to gain information on current news and events and therefore journalists should be allowed to enquire professionally and accurately to ensure the public is provided with the information they require. However regulations set by regulating bodies such as OFcom must guarantee that what is published is fair and has been investigated properly to avoid accusations of slander, while still being allowed freedom of speech.
Obviously however I also think that it is only fair that stories in the public interest or stories which have broken laws such as copyright should not be published as certain material should be kept secret or not published to ensure national security or wrong accusations being made against companies or individuals; therefore courts sentencing injunctions to further investigate stories are definitely needed. 
However I then read that judges have controversially prevented publications which would damage state interests. In this case I feel that any story or news could potentially damage interests of individuals but these stories are still broadcasted. Therefore i also believe that laws within the media should be followed by all, and not just chosen for certain organisations.
Finally I discovered the ethical rules set out for broadcast journalists which if broken can result in sanctions. Reading one of these rules; ‘The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired using hidden cameras.’ I believe I can count a number of occasions where secret cameras have been used by journalists to gain information; such as the recent cricket spot fixing scandal, where information was acquired using hidden cameras. At this point I would love any comment which could help me decipher whether I am reading into this rule incorrectly as I find this rule, and the many others followed by journalists very intriguing.  
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7ev10le1I&feature=related
Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. Andrew Giddings28 September 2010 at 16:52

    Lee, the short answer can be found in the PCC Code of Conduct:
    "Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means."
    http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html

    But it's also important to note that there are slight variations in the rules for newspapers and the rules for broadcast news. The cricket fixing footage was obtained by News of the World who, as a newspaper, may find it easier to do this kind of thing as, unlike TV news, they don't have to gain permission from Ofcom or the BBC Trust.

    You are right to suggest that a lot of news can potentially be damaging, this is why the PCC offers guidelines on what should be deemed to be in the interest of the public. The cricket scandal falls under point number 1: "Detecting or exposing crime or serious impropriety". More vague or shaky interpretations of "public interest" sometimes end up in front of a judge, who will make the decision.

    This is why media law is in a state of flux; it is open to interpretation and judges' decisions set new precedents all the time. It also means that your expensive copy of McNae's will be out of date before you know it.

    For more info and examples of cases, have a look at this post on my blog:http://www.journoblog.com/2009/11/investigative-journalism/

    Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris Horrie28 September 2010 at 17:00

    Good notes - helpful comments too from Andrew. I have posted a video version of the lecture that we had no room for - so that might be of some interest.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lee Jarvis29 September 2010 at 13:12

    Thank you very much! That has helped me alot!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)