Law Report

There are very clear laws in journalism and breaking them can not only be costly but, in certain cases, can result in a prison sentence. Radio stations cannot afford to break the law and so place great emphasis on training staff in media law. However modern day journalists now find greater challenges in broadcasting – technology increases the need to get information out faster and this means decisions could be made without considering the consequences.

There are three main areas of law; these are defamation, contempt and reporting restrictions. This report will explain the importance of each one and provide a few examples to reference.

Defamation is a statement that is made that tends to damage a person’s reputation in the eyes of others. The statement can merely be a suggestion or implication, causing them to be shunned or avoided or cause them financial loss. The majority of people will publish materials on a day to day basis via social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Journalists have to pay careful attention to this law. There are two forms of defamation, these are Libel (the written version) and Slander (the spoken version). Radio news is classed as Libel, not Slander.

Person who had the statement made about them -> Person making the statement -> anyone who repeats it can also be sued <- Audience – the more people the bigger the case for defamation

The main defences to defamation are:

1.      Justification – it is true

2.      Fair comment – if it’s an opinion, or is not intended to be malicious – careful though as this is a ‘grey area’

3.      Public interest – anything affecting the rights or health of public

4.      Privilege – absolute and qualified

5.      Website owners are also protected

6.      Scientific and academic journals are also covered (peer reviewed)

Libel is the written defamation. For example, if the publication is in a permanent form such as in a book, magazine or film, then the defamation is libel. In libel claims, the claimant does not have to prove that he/she has suffered loss or damage as a result of the publication. 

Slander is the spoken defamation. For example, if the publication is in a transient form such as speech, then the defamation is slander. In slander claims, the claimant must prove actual damage.

Fair Comment is when it's an opinion or is not intended to be malicious. If a defendant can prove that the defamatory statement is not a statement of fact and an expression of opinion, he/she can rely on the defence of fair comment. The fair comment must be factual and doesn't have to be reasonable but signifies the absence of malice.

Privilege has two forms; absolute and qualified. Qualified privilege is a statement taken from a group of 'high-up' people such as police or even press releases. Absolute privilege is a statement which is taken from court.

Public Interest is anything affecting the rights, health, or finances of the public at large. If the person making the claim or statement believes it is Public Interest, they can use this as a defence to defamation.

CASE STUDY – MCCANN COURT CASE ON ALLIGATION BOOK, PUBLISHED BY CHIEF POLICEMAN

Contempt of Court means disruption the proceedings of a court case. It is covered by the Contempt of Court Act (CCA) 1981. It exists to protect the running of the courts and contains ‘Strict Liability Rule’, which prevents any publication or broadcast from affecting the decisions of the court.

Timeline to demonstrate the 'active proceedings':

Crime

Arrest (warrant for arrest)

Charge

Trial

Jury Deliberations

Verdict

Sentence or acquittal

'Strict Liability Rule':

The 'Strict Liability Rule' means the rule of law whereby conduct may be treated as contempt of court as tending to interfere with the course of justice in particular legal proceedings regardless of intent to do so. It also has its limitations as it applies in relation to publications.

The maximum prison sentence in the UK is 2 years but the law is becoming increasingly difficult to enforce due to the worldwide nature of social media coverage. UK laws differ from other countries. For example, in the US, Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant was charged with the rape of a young woman in a hotel in Colorado. One cable television station invited viewers to vote on Bryant’s innocence or guilt – a US judge subsequently dismissed the case against Bryant, after the accused failed to testify.

Severity is dependent on a number of factors:

·         Time: The longer the time between the story being Published and the jury retiring to reach its verdict the less chance there is of the story being in contempt

·         Proximity: The court will weigh up the chances of a juror having actually read the offending story. If the story is published in Hampshire and the trial is held in Newcastle, there is less chance a juror could have seen or heard it

·         Initial Impact: The lead story on the front page of a paper is likely to have more impact than a couple of columns on page 34

·         Residual Impact: Whether the content of the story is likely to be remembered long term

CASE STUDY – BLACKBUR GIRLS FIGHTING, COURT CASE

Interview Techniques

The organiser of The Isle of Wight Festival

The IOW Festival is a major music event during summer. It was nominated for the Promoter Of The Year Award at the UK Festival Awards 2013. It is very popular and they never disappoint with their line ups. This year, the main bands attending are Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Kings Of Leon, Katy B, Fall Out Boy, and Lawson. Along side these, there are many more,  with a total of 48 different bands.

Questions:
1) Last year the festival had quite a lot of problems due to the weather. How will you overcome this for this year?

Goldilocks Case Study

Story:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks.  She went for a walk in the forest.  Pretty soon, she came upon a house.  She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in.

At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry.  She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

"This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed.

So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

"This porridge is too cold," she said

So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

"Ahhh, this porridge is just right," she said happily and she ate it all up.

After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts she decided she was feeling a little tired.  So, she walked into the living room where she saw three chairs.  Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet. 

"This chair is too big!" she exclaimed.

So she sat in the second chair.

"This chair is too big, too!"  she whined.

So she tried the last and smallest chair.

"Ahhh, this chair is just right," she sighed.  But just as she settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

Goldilocks was very tired by this time, so she went upstairs to the bedroom.  She lay down in the first bed, but it was too hard.  Then she lay in the second bed, but it was too soft.  Then she lay down in the third bed and it was just right.  Goldilocks fell asleep.

As she was sleeping, the three bears came home.

"Someone's been eating my porridge," growled the Papa bear.

"Someone's been eating my porridge," said the Mama bear.

"Someone's been eating my porridge and they ate it all up!" cried the Baby bear.

"Someone's been sitting in my chair," growled the Papa bear.

"Someone's been sitting in my chair," said the Mama bear.

"Someone's been sitting in my chair and they've broken it all to pieces," cried the Baby bear.

They decided to look around some more and when they got upstairs to the bedroom, Papa bear growled, "Someone's been sleeping in my bed,"

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed, too" said the Mama bear

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!" exclaimed Baby bear.

Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears.  She screamed, "Help!"  And she jumped up and ran out of the room.  Goldilocks ran down the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the forest.  And she never returned to the home of the three bears.

Area's of law at risk of breaking and reasons why/punishment or defence:

Defamation of character - Crime accused of is not from a reliable ounce

Contempt of court - Goldilocks has committed theft of porridge, criminal damage to Baby Bear's chair, and offences under the SOA. Proceedings are active if a warrant for her arrest has been issued. If they are active, it is safe to publish a police appeal for help and to report the crimes. You can also use Goldilocks' photo or e-fit until she's arrested. However, if she is under 10 years old, she cannot be charged with a criminal offence. The punishment is up to two years in jail.

Child anonymity - If Baby Bear is under 16, he should not be named under the PCC Code, as he is a victim of crime. 

Sexual offences - The fact Goldilocks slept in Baby Bears bed means there may be offences under the SOA. Baby Bear will also have a lifetime of hidden identity along side his family.

Child protection - If she's subject to any care proceedings, you cannot name her or use any of her details leading to her ID without consent of court. Check child services first.

Contempt of court

What does Contempt of Court mean?
Disrupting a proceedings of a court case

Act of Parliament which covers Contempt of Court is:
It is covered by the Contempt of Court Act (CCA) 1981

What does it do?
It exists to protect the running of the courts and contains 'Strict Liability Rule', which prevents any publication or broadcast from affecting the decisions of the court

Timeline to demonstrate the 'active proceedings':
Crime
Arrest (warrant for arrest)
Charge
Trial
Jury Deliberations
Verdict
Sentence or acquittal

'Strict Liability Rule':
The 'Strict Liability Rule' means the rule of law whereby conduct may be treated as a contempt of court as tending to interfere with the course of justice in particular legal proceedings regardless of intent to do so. It also has its limitations as it applies in relation to publications.

Law - Defamation

1) Defamation is a statement that is made that tends to damage a person's reputation in the eyes of others. Causing them to be shunned or avoided or cause them financial loss. The statement can merely be a suggestion or implication and journalists have to pay careful attention to this law - not doing so could be very costly. There are two forms of defamation, these are Libel (the written version) and Slander (the spoken version). Radio news is classed as Libel, not Slander.

2) Libel is the written defamation. For example, if the publication is in a permanent form such as in a book, magazine or film, then the defamation is libel. In libel claims, the claimant does not have to prove that he/she has suffered loss or damage as a result of the publication. 

Slander is the spoken defamation. For example, if the publication is in a transient form such as speech, then the defamation is slander. In slander claims, the claimant must prove actual damage.

Fair Comment is when it's an opinion or is not intended to be malicious. If a defendant can prove that the defamatory statement is not a statement of fact and an expression of opinion, he/she can rely on the defence of fair comment. The fair comment must be factual and doesn't have to be reasonable but signifies the absence of malice.

Privilege has two forms; absolute and qualified. Qualified privilege is a statement taken from a group of 'high-up' people such as police or even press releases. Absolute privilege is a statement which is taken from court.

Public Interest is anything affecting the rights, health, or finances of the public at large. If the person making the claim or statement believes it is Public Interest, they can use this as a defence to defamation.

4) http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/12/kate-mccann-portugal-libel-case 

Money Vox : Task 2

The diplodocus, nicknamed Misty, has been sold at auction for £400,000. Speaking before the sale, auctioneer James Rylands said: "We will be sorry to see her go - the downside of being an auctioneer is that once you've sold something you very seldom get to see it again.

This got us thinking about how much money we have spent on something we never use. Therefore thought it would be a good idea to find out the most amount of money someone has spent on something they've never used.

Cut: Money Vox
DUR: 39 seconds
Out: wasted money

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25094101

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You often find yourself buying something for a fair amount of money and then never returning it even though you don't use it. 

The target audience is 18-25, quite young because the stories are quick and simple with easy detail.

Audio is used in news bulletins to give the audience a better understanding of the news as it can be a  lot easier to keep up with the news whilst hearing the audio at the same time.

I chose to do a vox on the topic of spending money because it's around christmas time and also many people can relate to a question about wasting money. Everyone has bought something which they regret at some point. It's also a very easy question to ask and answer, therefore we had a very good variety of answers to choose from and edit.

Nothing was particularly hard about recording the vox, other than finding a quiet place to record.

When it came round to producing the voice piece, I didn't have a lot of trouble editing the vox's and putting them together. Audit is a very good software to use and has all the tools needed to make it an easy, quick process.

To follow the conventions of news, I made the question short and simple so that the audience would stay interested. The audio is also cut straight to the point, which I succeed doing with the editing.

I think that the final outcome of this piece of work was fairly good. I have a good selection of people that had answered the question and given a variety of answers. If I were to do it again, I would find a quiet place to record so that the audio is much clearer and possibly add a quiet backing track to make it more professional and not as boring.

Assignment 1

Capital South Coast
Length of bulletin: 2:04

Stories covered:
"103.2 Capital Breakfast"
Intro audio - jingle
Presenter - Gareth (saints fc) is the most payed player in the world, £34 per min, £85million
- Seria, chemical weapons, MP's say no to british involvement, MP voice clip
- 2 Coronation Street actors accused of separate sexual offences to children, Michael goes on trial and Bill Roach is due before madostrate, both deny the charges
- Politicians and celebs pay tribute to David Frost (75 year old who had a heart attack on board a cruise ship when due to make a speech)
- Musical 'Wicked' is coming to Southampton mayflower Oct-Nov next year
Audio to "Capital weather"
Advertisement - Cleanex tissues
Short weather announcements
Audio to "gilles and emily"
Mash-up of top hit songs

How the stories were treated with audio (or not): The stories did not have any audio in the background, although the advertisement, weather, and introductions did. 

Audience intended: 103.2 Capital is the south coasts No.1 hit music station. Its audience is mainly adults and figures show that 248,000 adults tune in per week. Although it is intended for the majority of a 'younger' audience.



Wave 105
Length of bulletin: 3:31

Stories covered:
Intro audio - jingle
"FM digital and online, the souths biggest radio station, Wave 105"
-Time and name of presenter-
Presenter - David frost, vox pop of Davids closest friend
- numerous calls for David Cameron to consider a second vote on military action in Seria
- America's president Obama asked congress for formal approval of US lead military indention, vox pop of congress opinion
- Motorcyclist died after a crash near Blanford, he collided with a 4by4 driving in the opposite direction on the A350. The 52 year old was sent to Bristol hospital but later died
- Drivers in Bournemouth were diverted after a man dressed as superman hung a barrier
- More families will have free childcare
- More than 300 authorities had sold people's names and addresses to 3000 companies and individuals over 5 years. Case study - Big Brother, vox pop
- Life boats for air displays, 1.3. million visitors
- "Follow on Twitter, Wave 105 radio"
Outward jingle

How the stories were treated with audio (or not): No audio was played during the time the presenter was speaking. There was audio to separate different sections, for instance, the intro had audio and then stopped when the presenter spoke, and began again at the end of the bulletin.

Audience intended: The audience is aimed at an older age range because of the seriousness put into the news. There isn't much appeal to a younger audience as there is no music or gossip, it is all serious news.

Wave 105 radio station doesn't use much music and isn't necessarily formal, although in comparison to Capital South Coast it is much more formal. Capital South Coast is packed with music and the latest news that interests the younger audience, therefore it's informal and more of an 'easy listen'.


Choice London
Length of bulletin: 1:42

Stories covered:
Intro audio - jingle
"This is Choice news"
Presenter - Changes in qualify system
- 17 year old boy being held by police for the death of another 17 year old, found with head injuries in Bromley, died later in hospital around 9:30
- Sixth formers who didn't get a C in English and Maths GCSE will be forced to continue studying the subject, ministers hope it will make students more employable
- More families are getting free child care, 40% of parents with 2 year olds, voice clip 1 and voice clip 2 of parents with own views on this
- Liverpool top of the league, quoting team owner, voice clip of coach
- 24 year old footballer earning £300,000 a week
- (bed) Weather
"We are delighted to give you Choice London breakfast with... and..."
Outward jingle

How the stories were treated with audio (or not): Audio was played throughout this bulletin, this gives he impression that it is intended for the younger audience because it keeps a track playing whilst reading the news. This would keep the audience listening and keep their attention. 

Audience intended: The audience intended for Choice FM is young adults. This is because it is a contemporary hit radio station.

This radio station's format comes across as being urban contemporary. It has main stories that would relate to the audience and keeps it short and simple for each one. The backing track plays throughout and there are no adverts to get in the way of the music. It is very modern and easy to listen to. You can tell by the way the presenter is reading the news that it's a very chilled out and fun radio station.



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