Privilege allows journalists to report on events such as council meetings, court cases and inquests. Journalists can publish and broadcast defamatory information if they abide by certain rules.
There are two types of privilege: Absolute and Qualified. Journalists have Absolute Privilege when covering court cases, inquests and tribunals as long as their report is published soon after the event and that it is accurate and fair. This means that a newspaper should publish the story on their website shortly after the conclusion of that days events in court and in the next edition of the physical copy. A broadcaster should show the report on the next bulletin or as soon as possible if it also has a rolling news channel.
Qualified Privilege gives the same protection to journalists that Absolute Privilege does, but for it to be reported, it must be in the public interest and without malice.
The word 'qualified' means that the publication is protected in certain circumstances (published quickly, the information is accurate and without malice and/or bias to one side).
