Media Law Year Three - Lecture Seven. Press Regulation.

Journalists must follow regulations, which affect both print and broadcast journalists.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is the regulator for newspapers, magazines and other written publications. It is seen as something of a 'toothless tiger' because its code of practice was established by the newspapers themselves.

At the moment, there seems to be a tussle between the press and the government, with the former wanting their own regulator, whilst the latter wants a royal charter and statutory regulations. If put in place, it will mean stricter controls on the written press, something that the industry does not want.


Ofcom is the regulatory authority that policies broadcast media, it covers everything on TV and radio.

Broadcasters must have a licence from Ofcom to transmit and can have their licence taken away if they commit offences serious enough for Ofcom to do so. It can also impose a fine of up to 5% of a broadcasters revenue if is rules have been broken. BBC and S4C (Welsh-language public service television) do not hold Ofcom licences, but are still subject to its rules and can be fined.

These sanctions will be imposed when  "a broadcaster deliberately, seriously, or repeatedly breaches the code...".


BBC Editorial Guidelines are for BBC staff and set the standards for the journalism of the corporation.

The BBC handles all its own complaints about inaccuracy and bias and the BBC Trust sets out the framework for its procedure.


NUJ Code of Conduct is only a guide to good conduct, therefore cannot impose serious sanctions.

Abiding by this code can be important for maintaining the reputation of a journalist or a publication. A journalist or a publication may break the code and be lowered in the eyes of their fellow journalists, people they want to interview and/or the public.

Media Law Year Three - Lecture Six. Privilege

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).

Magazine journalism – confessional interviews

Confessional interviews are about extraordinary things happening to ordinary people and are usually ghost written.

They come in two styles, in the victim’s voice and house style.

The byline will usually be in the spine of the magazine if it is a more upmarket publication, such as the Guardian Weekend magazine, but in magazines such as ‘Take A Break’ and ‘Closer’, the byline will be in the form of a very short introduction, for example: ‘Person A tells her emotional story to Person B’.

The actual interview should last about 45 minutes, this allows the interviewer to get as much information as possible and lets them have a choice on what to include. These are better if they are done face to face and with precise questioning.

Confessional interviews are the staple of women’s magazines. These magazines are usually weeklies and not pegged to news, but always human interest. The interviews are sometimes about a ‘battle’ against something.

Interviews of this type in newspapers are usually pegged to news, for example an interview with the survivor of a recent train crash. An interview with the survivor of a train crash would usually be included as part of a package, such as a double page spread.

Confessional interviews in trade magazines are less dramatic than in magazines and newspapers, but there still needs to be something exciting that will grab the readers.

How to find a subject for a confessional interview

Look for ‘victims’.

People who have ‘battled’ against an illness.

Go to support groups.

Internet

Phonebook

Newspapers – local and national

The best subjects are those who can speak confidently and will give you plenty of information. They need to be honest and open about what has happened. Try and get someone who will be able to give you pictures as well.

Someone who’s story has a happy ending, for example they got the all clear after having cancer.

Avoid people who have mental health issues, those who are confessing to crime, people with Munchausen’s Syndrome or a friend/relative.

Media Law Year Three - Lecture Five. Copyright

Copyright laws protect other people’s creative content. This includes any ideas in a physical form, for example photos, videos and written work.

The owner of the copyright is the person who creates the content, or the website that the content is published on, depending on the contract of the person who created the content.

Fair dealing

Copyrighted work can be used if it is attributed,  if it is in the public interest for it to be used or the use of it is ‘fair’.

There is no fair dealing law for the use of photographs though, any photos that you want to use must be bought from whoever owns the copyright.

Copyrighted work is frequently used on news programmes, especially when a famous person dies. Clips of the films or TV shows that an actor has been in are shown alongside archive footage. Fair dealing allows these clips to be shown on TV is they are being used it is a news event or for purposes of review and comment. The source of the content must be attributed and only a certain amount of footage can be used.

An example of this was a 2007 BBC News report on the sale of Aston Martin. Clips of the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale were used in the report, but were allowed to be used under fail dealing. The film was due for release on DVD soon after the report, so it also acted as an advert for the film.

Another example is ‘Newport State of Mind’ – a parody of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ song Empire State of Mind. The parody used the same tune as the original song, but the lyrics were changed.

The video was taken off YouTube for a period of time because of a ‘copyright claim’ by EMI Music Publishing - the company that published the original song. The video was still available to view on other websites though.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 says, “There is currently no exception which covers the creation of parodies, caricatures or pastiches”. The use of work used in a parody must be consented, unless it falls under fair dealing exceptions:

• the part of the underlying work is not ‘substantial’
• the use of the underlying work falls within the fair dealing exception for ‘criticism, review and news reporting’
• enforcement of copyright is contrary to the public interest

The Newport State of Mind video fails these exceptions because a substantial part of the original song was used.

Sports broadcasting rights

 

This can be a particularly thorny issue for broadcasters.

Sky and BT currently have the rights to show live Premier League matches and BBC has the rights to show highlights. Any other broadcaster using footage of Premier League matches must attribute the content to the broadcaster that has shown the match live. This means that only matches shown live on TV can be shown and the footage from Sky’s or BT’s coverage can be used.