Introduction to Journalism - Summary Introduction Exercise

UNISON PROPOSE NEW BUDGET IN PROTEST

Unison workers will make a stand in cities around the country on Friday.   

As a result of the proposals by the government to cut public sector spending, workers will don skeleton outfits in protest to emphasise their concern in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Taunton, Swansea, Newcastle and Nottingham. 

“The Chancellor’s knife is cutting deep. His drastic, hard and fast public spending cuts will cut vital local services back to the bone and throw tens of thousands on the dole,” said Heather Wakefield, Unison Head of Local Government.

There are great fears that the cuts will lead to high streets becoming like ghost towns, and that local economies will die.  Unison, the UK’s largest public sector union, has constructed their own budget that they feel of which the coalition should take note. The alternative ‘fairer budget’ is aimed at taxing the bankers (who they suggest caused the crisis) and higher earners (over £100,000), as well as addressing tax avoidance and tax havens.  Included in the Unison Save Our Services budget is a 50% taxation on those earning over £100,000, seeing a return of £4.7bn a year alone.  In Unison’s eyes the road to recovery will be much fairer, instead of those in the public sector paying the price.

At the same time, unnecessary spending within the public sector, notably the NHS, has been identified.  Unison states that £500m could be saved from hiring cleaners to eradicate healthcare acquired infections.

LONDON CAN SURF UNDERGROUND

BT is to bring Wi-Fi to Charing Cross Underground this week. 

As part of a six-month trial by London Underground and BT, commuters will be able to access the internet via BT Openzone in the Tube station.  The trial will test how successful the service is, part of which is to provide up-to-date service information for London Transport.

“We hope that our customers will find it useful to have access to the internet,” said Richard Parry, Strategy and Commercial Director for London Underground.

As the latest UK addition to the BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots; the ticket area and platforms on the Northern and Bakerloo lines will offer commuters the opportunity to surf the net.  This means that BT now has over 1.6 million wireless broadband hotspots.  To connect to the service, passengers will need to be carrying a Wi-Fi enabled device, such as a laptop or smartphone.  However, internet access is only free to those BT broadband customers on unlimited BT FON Wi-Fi minutes, or BT Openzone customers.  Mobile network users of O2, Tesco Mobile, Vodaphone and Orange, as well as other Wi-Fi enabled devices with Wi-Fi minutes in their contract are able to use the BT Openzone network.  It is also possible to buy vouchers online.

London Underground sees the trial as part of TfL’s innovation to find alternative ways to make information more accessible to customers.

IT’S A SLUG’S LIFE

Britain’s 'green fingers' need to take care when using slug pellets during this autumn and winter.  

The warning comes from the Environmental Agency, as they anticipate the increase in slug activity during wet weather.

“If conditions are such that you wouldn’t spray a pesticide, such as when heavy rain is forecast, then don’t apply a pellet,” stated Phil Shere from the Environment Agency.

The Metaldehyde Stewardship Group emphasised in their guidelines the importance of keeping metaldehyde out of water.  They advise on the effectiveness of applying slug pellets, that they need to be spread carefully and accurately, making sure that any applicators are cleaned away from any watercourse.  It is essential not to apply pellets within six metres of a watercourse, or when heavy rain is forecast.  Attention must be paid to the dosage given on the manufacturer’s label. 

Using a much better quality slug pellet is also recommended by the Environment Agency.  This is because the quality of a pellet affects its resistance to wet weather, as well as its success in slug deaths.  If a pellet breaks down quickly, it is more likely to leak metaldehyde into the soil; this in turn drains into a water course and increases the risk of contamination (as well as killing less slugs).

All UK growers and advisors have the responsibility to make sure slug pellets are used in the right way and only when needed, to ensure they do not contaminate the environment.

Media Law - Privilege

Privilege is important to a journalist, as it can allow something to be written or broadcast that could be of a defamatory nature.  At the same time, it can offer some protection from being sued.

There are two types of privilege; absolute and qualified. 


Absolute privilege

Absolute privilege means that any action for defamation is barred, no matter what the comment is.  Unfortunately it is quite limited for journalists to use.  Within Parliament, MPs are able to say what they like, without the risk of defamation.  Only through Parliament published reports (Hansard - the Official record of the House of Commons and House of Lords) is it possible to report every comment, malicious or not and not run the risk of libel.  Even if a journalist is commenting on what has been debated in the House of Commons, they are only covered by qualified privilege.

The only time a journalist is covered by absolute privilege is when they are reporting court cases or tribunals, as what is said in court is often very defamatory.  Without absolute privilege the media wouldn't be able to report about it at all.  It is only if a hearing is held in private that it doesn't apply. There are specific guidelines on what must be included in court reports.

Reports must be fair - when reporting, you must make a summary of both sides, not just one.  They must also be weighted equally on both sides.  Mr Justice Eady stated in 2006 (Bennet v Newsquest) that a report 'must be fair overall and not give a misleading impression...omissions will deprive a report of privilege if they create a false impression of what took place'.
Reports must be accurate - you must report EXACTLY what is said in court, not adding anything or taking anything away from what someone says.  If there is an allegation, you should state the person who is making the claim as well as what they say.  This way you cannot get into trouble for making it sound as a factual statement.
Reports must be contemporaneous - in the Defamation Act 1996, it says that contemporaneous reports are 'as soon as practicable'.  For a daily newspaper, this would need to be the next day, however for a weekly newspaper it would mean the next week.  It should be the next issue of the publication.


Qualified Privilege

This is more day to day things encountered by journalists.  It applies to reports of court cases, public meetings, council meetings and police statements.  To ensure you are covered by qualified privilege, the reports need to be fair (balanced on both sides), accurate, without malice and on a matter of public concern.

There are two levels of Qualified Privilege:

- With or 'subject to' explanation or contradiction
Public meetings - if something defamatory is said in a public meeting and you get the other side, you can run the story.  At the same time it must still be without malice and have public concern in mind. Public meetings include local councils and committees, tribunals, commissions and inquiries.

Associations have a different status (e.g. GMC, FA).  They would usually have a hearing in private and would then come out with their judgement.  Therefore, findings or decisions by the association arecovered by qualified privilege, but proceedings are not.

- 'Without' explanation or contradiction
Public proceedings in a legislature anywhere in the world
Public proceedings in a court anywhere in the world
Public proceedings of a public inquiry anywhere in the world
Public proceedings of an international organisation or conference (Individual interviews must take place in that venue)


Public meetings
Public meetings are discussions of public concern, and the admission can be general or restricted.  Up until 2000, pressers (press conferences) were not seen as a public meeting.  As a result of the McCartan Turkington Breen v Times Newspapers Ltd (2000) appeal, the House of Lords ruled that press conferences were protected by qualified privilege.  In the case, originating from a meeting organised by campaigners for the release of a British soldier, Lee Clegg, the Times reported defamatory comments about the solicitors who represented Clegg.  The solicitors sued the newspaper over the report.  A written press release was also made available to the press, but it wasn't read out aloud in the proceedings, although referred to orally by one of the speakers during it.  Lord Bingham ruled that the press representatives were like the 'eyes and ears of the public' and that the newspaper was covered by qualified privilege, as were the written handouts, also part of the public meeting.

A full report of the hearing can be found at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldjudgmt/jd001102/turk-1.htm



Remember: there are risks of live broadcasts of public meetings, it is generally a good idea to put a delay in.

Also, there is NO PRIVILEGE outside of main proceedings.

If in court someone shouts out from the gallery, it is possible to report it if the comment isn't defamatory (this would then be reported as ' a member of the gallery shouted out as he was taken away', as this gives an accurate report of the atmosphere inside the court).

I Think It's Time

As my eyes took in the information that my beautiful Swatch watch had departed from my wrist (I had to delve for my buried watch amongst my washing that had just been recovered from the dryer) I was a little taken aback.  After putting my watch into hiatus more than a year ago, and buying another 'cheaper' Accurist watch, I suddenly (upon discovering it in my room at home again) fell in love with it all over again.

Its face, a little more abused than the day I bought it at the shiny kiosk in Kings Cross, still looks appealing, mainly because it is so big you can't really miss the time.  This often works very well when I've not yet put in my contact lenses and can't really see anything at all.  Also, the style is just fantastic; around the steel edge of the casing it has every capital city that Swatch deem important to place carefully round the outside.  The cities match up with the 24 hours (on an inner ring) and I'm sure my watch is trying to tell me how many hours they are behind or indeed in front of GMT, which is rather clever for an inanimate object, but I do get rather confused past 12. 

On the main part of the face, 12, 3, 9 stand out in a large, unmistakable font (you know immediately if you've put it on upside down).  The other numbers clearly aren't vital, as they've been replaced by notches - this, I like to think, implies it indicates "the numerate person's" watch.  I can show off that I know my numbers up to 12, and even know what comes between 12 and 3.  If you can't read my watch, you're not as clever as me.  To complicate things further, my watch seconds run round a tiny clock located at the bottom, where the 6 should be displayed. 

Last but not least, is the date situated at the right side.  The only slight flaw in the overwhelming positives gained from having this (for starters, knowing the date), is that when there are only 30 days (or 28, 29 days) in a month, it takes me about a day to notice.  By this time I've told about 10 people that it's the 31st of September, or the 30th of February.  It then takes about 5 minutes trying to remember how to change the date and not the time.  I usually end up winding my watch forward a day, which takes another 5 minutes.

After fondly recalling why I chose this watch, the sad fact remains I can't wear it unless I spend a small fortune on a second leather strap.  The reason for putting it away in the first place was because the strap was beginning to perish too much and it was obvious that if it wasn't replaced it would die a horrible death.  I'm quite ridiculous and refuse to get anything other than a branded Swatch strap. Superglue as an option did run through my mind, but I'm not what you'd call an expert and visions of ruining the whole watch appeared, which were dismissed quickly. 

So, my dilemma seems to be the following; I don't eat for a month and get a replacement strap, or I make a cup of Earl Grey and admire my new Swatch pocket watch.

Media Law - Defamation and Libel

What is defamation?

This is when something that you write:
- lowers them in estimation of right-thinking members of society generally
- causes them to be shunned or avoided
- disparages them in their business, trade or profession
- exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt.

This can also occur via pictures and is a common danger in TV.  It can be through the careless use of a background, shots with voice over can be defamatory.  People or companies must not be identifiable in certain contexts e.g. child abuse and fraud.  'Imprecise' shots make it unclear who the suspect is, or which house is being spoken about, especially when it is terraced or attached to another house.


Reputation is vital to somebody who lives in public life, but also someone who has money. 

Inference
When reporting something, it should be written to be interpreted by the 'reasonable man' .  It is not necessary according to how the person who wrote the piece wanted it to mean, or to extreme views of others, but that of what a reasonable person would take it to mean. 

Innuendo
Is just as big a hazard as inference and this is where a hidden meaning in the report is clear to ones who have a particular knowledge.  The example of Lord Gowrie in 1986, who after the use of 'snort' in a question of what 'expensive habits' he was unable to support on his former income, sued for the creation of the innuendo that he took illegal drugs, in particular cocaine.  He received 'substantial damages'.

Bane and Antidote
The context of a report may remove a defamatory meaning.  In the instance of Charleston v News Group Newspapers Ltd [1995], although actors' heads were super-imposed on porn stars in a picture (something defamatory), it was seen from the text, that the newspaper was reporting a game where this was actually happening (without the actors' knowledge).  The House of Lords applied this rule, saying that most people who read past the first paragraph would realise the report not to be defamatory.

As a journalist, it is important to realise that someone's reputation is key - if they have a lot to lose, they are more likely to sue, so BEWARE!


Libel Defences
- Justification - it is true and can be proven in court.
- Fair comment - honestly held opinion based upon facts, or privileged material, in the public interest.
- Absolute privilege - court reporting.
- Qualified privilege - police quotes, pressers.


Other Defences
- Banes and Antidote - defamatory removed by context (see above).
- Apologies and clarifications - the speed you respond by makes a difference too.
- Reynolds Defence
    - Material must be:
                               In the public interest, a product of 'responsible journalism' (more in favour of BBC).




No Defence
There is no defence for you against defamatory or libel when you:
- haven't checked your facts.
- haven't 'referred up' - you haven't flagged it up to someone.
- haven't put yourself in the shoes of the person or company you write about.
- have got carried away by a 'spicy' story.
- haven't bothered to wait for a lawyer's opinion.

**If there is the option between leaving something out (whilst waiting for the lawyer) or putting it in before the deadline, LEAVE IT OUT**



KEY QUESTIONS
Who am I writing about, could they sue?
Is what I'm writing potentially defamatory?
Do I have a defence? Am I covered?

REMEMBER - Lawyers never mind being asked!

Media Law - Criminal Coverage (Part 2)

Court

When a case reaches court, there is usually a 'pre-trial' or 'preparatory' hearing.  At this point automatic reporting restrictions (mentioned in Part 1) come into place, and a journalist cannot publish anything other than the basic seven points:

1.  Names of defendants, ages, addresses and occupations
2.  Charges faced or a close summary
3.  Name of court and magistrate's name (or judge's name if held at a Crown court)
4.  Names of solicitor and barristers present
5.  Date and place to where the case is to be adjourned
6.  Any arrangements as to bail
7.  Whether legal aid was granted

If the facts of a case are broadcast, they can affect the jury's opinion or ideas separate to those heard in court. This can lead to contempt of court.


Key Stages of Trial

- Prosecution opening
- Key prosecution witnesses
- Defence opening
- Key defence witnesses
- Judge's summing up
- Jury sent out, deliberation and verdict
- Sentencing (this may be adjourned and the journalist with have to return)

When a trial begins, the media can report what is heard in court from that day, whilst the jury is present.  There are rules as to how it is reported; it needs to be fair, accurate and contemporaneous (you cannot report that day's news next week, unless it is a weekly newspaper).  There is no sound recording or photography allowed.

Under 18's are classed as juveniles and generally enjoy anonymity.  Juveniles (10-18 years of age) are usually tried at youth courts, unless it is a very serious case which will then go to the Crown court.  This is illustrated in the case of the murder trial of James Bulger that took place in 1993, where two children (aged 10 at the time of murder) were charged.  Their preliminary hearing was held at Bootle magistrates court, not at a youth court, and the case was sent to trial at Preston Crown court.  During the trial the identities of the children were withheld from being published, by order of the court.  However, on the day a verdict was reached, the judge agreed to the public identification of the two boys (by now 11 year olds), Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

'We Don't Need No Education' - Well, Not When You're Charging Us That Much!

With every university student, the thought of tuition fees is pushed out of mind whilst studying and replaced with partying and shopping.  The fees are covered by a student loan (if they are not lucky to have parents/relatives to cover the cost) and apart from excessive amounts of paperwork, there is no real concept of owing over £9,000 in fees, and possibly the same in Maintenance loans.

I myself am in that boat, having graduated from university a year ago, I have a rather large debt hanging over my head.  However, I haven't started paying it back yet, not earning enough and then taking on a Postgrad course, it's unlikely I'll tackle any of that debt for a while.  At the same time, I've pretty much resolved myself to the fact I may never pay off my loans!  Some of my friends attended university straight from school, when the fee was just over £1,000 per year.  It turns me a bit green to think if I'd gone to university straight away I'd owe much less and probably hold a pretty good job.  It's best not to think about it and to be glad to have met the people at university when I did!

Even so, the proposition of uncapping the cost of tuition up to more than double the current rates, and owing up to £7,000 a year in fees alone is rather astounding. I would end up waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat trying to juggle those amounts in my head.  Thankfully, I only have to have the money up front for Postgrad; well, I'm not sure it is much better (although I'm not quite living on bread and water just yet), but at least it's not going to be with me for another 25 years.

I suppose it's not necessarily a question about rising fees, but whether the education provided by the universities is worth their jump in costs.  Over the last 5-10 years, new universities have emerged, often from former colleges and poly-technics, but do these really give students the high quality of other established universities or do they fall below?  My friends have attended a diverse range of universities, and I have visited several.  It is true, they do differ in their approaches to students; some have a more laid back atmosphere, where others really push their students to succeed.  Unfortunately, some friends attended university where they were let down by lecturers, not providing the training and teaching that they should have had on that specific course.  After confrontations by the students, they were offered alternative lessons, but by this time they were about to leave the university.

This should ultimately cause an underlying worry for new students.  The problem is, those fresh faced 18 year olds won't have a clue what they're getting themselves into, or putting their parents through to fund their life of late nights and late mornings, occasionally showing up to lectures when they fancy.  It's only when they hit 30 they'll realise they owe a small fortune in excess of £25,000.

Media Law - Criminal Court Coverage (Part 1)

Prior To Court

It’s important to find out whether a suspect is under arrest or is voluntarily assisting with police enquiries. As soon as there is an arrest, this makes the case ‘active’ under the Contempt of Court Act thus affecting what the Media can publish about it. Also a magistrates' issue of an arrest warrant makes a case 'active'. If a suspect isn’t arrested but released on police bail, the case is still 'active' until the bail ends without arrest or charge.

Limits to detaining suspects by the police prior to any charge are normally for no more than 24 hours.  If there is no charge, the suspect must be released.  If the crime is an indictable offence (see below), then under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act a police officer of superintendent rank can authorise another 12 hours.  Police can then apply to a magistrates' court for up to a further 36 hour extension.  They can apply again, but in total a person cannot be detained beyond 96 hours.  However, under the Terrorism Act, a person suspected of a terrorism offence can be detained for up to 28 days without charge.


Libel

Even if a media organisation find out that an individual is being investigated by the police or another agency, prior to a charge, and name they release the name of that person or details that will identify them; they have the right to sue the organisation for libel if it doesn’t result in a criminal prosecution. At times, a media organisation may release this at risk, if they have received information that the police are close to charging that suspect (as the libel fades into the background by the actual charge for that person) or if they are quite certain that person won’t wish to alienate the media (i.e. a Celebrity or Politician) by suing them.

There are guidelines on naming suspects in the media from the ACPO. If a person is under investigation but has not been charged, some details may be released as long as the suspect isn’t identified by this information. After a charge has been made, the police will identify the suspect by their name, age and occupation, as well as the charge and upcoming appearance at court.


Criminal Charges

Criminal charges determine where the case will be going, either remaining at the magistrates court or passed onto the Crown court. As a journalist, it is important to know what the categories mean.

Criminal charge categories:
Indictable-only offences, can only be dealt with by a Crown court with a jury trial (after a preliminary hearing at the magistrates court)

Either-way offences, can be dealt with by a Crown court or a magistrates court (depending on what the magistrate decides or whether the defendant elects a Crown court trial by jury)

Summary offences, almost all are dealt with by a magistrates court. There is no right to a Crown court jury trial.
Automatic reporting restrictions depend on the category of the charge/offence and the procedures of that particular court. These restrictions make it illegal to report some details in the media.


Magistrates' powers are limited, and this would be a reason why they may choose to send an either-way offence to trial at Crown court.  They have the ability to give 6 month jail sentences and fines up to £5,000.  They can issue suspended sentences, conditional discharge (conditional on good behaviour over a specific period), community orders, binding over (where you are bound to keep the peace on a sum of money, which has to be paid if you break it) and ASBOs.

Journalists must be aware of accurate reporting of crime charges. For example, a theft is not the same as a robbery which indicates the use of force by violence within the crime. If reported incorrectly, they may be libellous (as mentioned above).

There are usually two parts to a crime, an act (which is potentially criminal) and a guilty mind (meaning the crime was planned and carried out/attempted).  The prosecution generally has to prove both parts, but in some circumstances it is possible a crime can become something different if there was no malice in the action, for example, a killing can become manslaughter or a tragic accident (not criminal).

At the same time, the law acknowledges that a crime can be committed without the need to prove guilty of intent.  These offences are known to be of 'strict liability' and protect a safe and just society.  If a motorist drives with too much alcohol in their system without the intention of breaking the alcohol limit, they are still committing an offence.  In the same manner, if you own a TV and not a TV licence, this too is an offence.