Task 1 - Legal and Ethical Considerations

Lauren Gaudie

Assignment 1 – Legal and Ethical Considerations

In this assignment I will discuss the various legal and ethical considerations facing media producers. I will provide an overview of the area and explain why it important to the media industry using examples as I go.

 

Defamation (Libel/ Slander)

Defamation is a term for hurting someone’s reputation. For it to appear on radio it would be ‘slander’ as it would be spoken, whereas if it is on a website or in a newspaper it would be ‘libel’ as it would be written down. It is important to the media industry as they could easily be sued if they word something wrong, so they would have to be very careful. An example of this would be when The Daily Mirror accused Frankie Boyle of being racist, as they had no actual evidence of him being a racist and the court referred to him as “a comedian who tells jokes about race rather than being a racist”, he successfully sued the newspaper for £55,000. Another example would be the Rolf Harris case, stating that he allegedly molested young girls over the many years he’s been famous. If a newspaper or a radio were to assume he is guilty, this would be libel and slander defamation.

 

Court Reporting

The law on court reporting is designed to protect the accused’s right to a fair trial. The court reporter must always refer to the suspect as the “alleged” or the “accused” and never the “killer” until proven. You also cannot report on any previous offences mentioned in court. You also cannot mention any names of children less than 16 years of age linked with the crime. An example of this would be when the Ian Huntley trial was on-going and 2 Beacon FM radio presenters Mark Peters and Lisa Freame discussed Huntley’s testimony, with Peters saying...

“It’s almost like the most unbelievably made-up story in the world ever, really, isn’t it? Well, I personally think it is. I can’t believe any member of the jury is going to believe that story.”

The pair were immediately sacked from their jobs at the radio station, while the station itself ran the risk of being held in contempt of court.

 

Privacy

This is the invasion of privacy, such as reporters standing on private property. It is important that the media industry know this is unacceptable as the individuals privacy you are invading could easily sue as you are on their property. In the UK there are no specific laws to privacy, although Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 is designed to provide “the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.” An example of this would be when Kate Middleton was spotted topless abroad on a holiday and the French newspapers showed the pictures whereas the British newspapers didn’t out of respect for the royal family.

 

Election Law

The law regarding the elections are that if you are a presenter on a radio stations you can’t favour one certain party, you must have a neutral view to make it fair to the listeners and for their opinion on to be tampered with. This law doesn’t apply to newspapers and the internet as the law doesn’t include them. This is important to the media industry as it affects people’s views towards the politicians.

 

Legal and Ethical Constraints

It is an offence to incite racial or religious hatred. All media producers must be very careful what is said on the air or in newspapers, even if it is a quote from someone else, the law stating this is The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. They must be careful not to allow racist remarks on phone ins, chat shows etc. because they could be prosecuted. Even balancing with anti-racist views is not enough, because racist remarks have been said.

 

The Official Secrets Act

This is the legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security; it was brought in due to concerns over foreign spies and saboteurs. It states the media cannot mention any of the following in any form:

•       Security and intelligence

•       Defence

•       International relations

•       Confidential info from other governments or international organisations

•       Info that could be useful to criminals

•       Info about interception (opening and reading suspects mail)

 

If mentioned, this is a crime and the media producer will be punished by the courts as it is classified information about the safety of our country.

 

Industry and Professional Codes

OFCOM is a regulatory body, meaning it is accountable to parliament (and funded by the government). Covers broadcasting / telecommunications – the public can complain to OFCOM if they are unhappy about something they see / hear. It covers rules on...

•      Content for children

•      Watershed

•      Protecting the public from “harmful and offensive” material

 

It is important to the media industry as if they are showing/saying something that the audience do not approve of, the public will go to OFCOM and the radio show/newspaper etc. will get a very large fine.