Press Regulation

As a journalist working in either broadcast or print, there are important regulatory regimes that we must follow. The code relating to print is currently the subject of scrutiny following the Leveson Inquiry, however in broadcast the relevant codes are BBC and Ofcom.

Press Complaints Commission (PCC)

This is the regulator for magazine, newspapers and written publications. Prior to the phone hacking scandal, the PCC was already widely regarded as no more than 'a toothless tiger', it was a body that could be easily discarded by editors and journalists, without imposing any threat to ones career.

Currently, the newspaper regulation is in limbo, following the phone hacking scandal. The press want their own regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) but the government want a royal charter and a statute regulation. For print journalists, this was deemed to be too much state intervention, and invading the freedom of the press.

The PCC does still exist but it is soon to be replaced. The damaging issue to the PCC is that they did not address the corruption of phone hacking, this ethical scandal was continuing while the PCC was in operation, therefore they failed to hold the editor and journalists involved to account.

The fact that the PCC is a self regulatory body is problematic, it results back to the argument of who guards the guardians?

Ofcom

This is the licensing authority that applies to TV and radio broadcasts. It is independent of the Government and broadcasters cannot transmit without a licence from Ofcom. this regulator has statutory powers to impose sanctions "when a broadcaster deliberately, seriously, or repeatedly breaches the code...".

The body can stop the repetition of a programme, make the broadcast issue a correction or statement, impose a financial penalty of up to 5% of qualifying revenue or revoke a licence that is not applicable to the BBC, S4C or channel 4). There is an absolute requirement for "due accuracy and due impartiality"

The Ofcom code has 10 sections outlineing rules for broadcasters to follow.

Section One - Protecting children and those under 18
Section Two - Avoiding harm and offence
Section Three - Covering Crime
Section Four - Covering Religion
Section Five - Due Impartiality and due accuracy and undue prominence of views and opinions
Section Six - Covering elections and referendums
Section Seven - Fairness
Section Eight - Protecting Privacy
Section Nine - Commercial references in television programming
Section Ten - Commercial Communications in Radio programming

BBC Editorial Guideline

This is for BBC staff and license payers, the BBC guidelines are designed to be a working tool for programme makers and journalists, and to act as a benchmark of good practise when considering complaints.

The BBC Editirial Guidelines sets out standards for its journalism, including uncover investigations. The BBC College of Journalism  is also accessible to all, helping to train it's journalists in laws and ethics.

The BBC is he biggest broadcasting organisation in the world, it has an editorial complaints unit so that complainants unhappy with its decisions can appeal to the Trust, if it is alleged that material broadcast was unfair or offensive then complainants can directly contact Ofcom as they also regulate the BBC.

National Union of Journalists

This is a useful guide to good conduct, but without the possibility of serious sanction, this body will do little to help reassure the public of their scepticism towards journalists conduct.

Why do codes matter?

Codes are required in order to keep us in line, making poor ethical judgements can cost a journalist their reputation, audience trust and ultimately your job.

With the codes of best practise in place, we an think about
How far we can go to get the story?
Will our behaviour damage or enhance our reputation?
What practises are legitimate? 
Do circumstances make a difference?
What is acceptable language and violence? 

Reputation matters because we want to be able to develop and nurture a relationship based on trust with our audience, we are representing the news brand that we work for, therefore if we lose the trust with our audience there is nothing to stop them flicking channels.

Codes of practise tend to concentrate on areas such as:
1. Ethical behaviour expected from journalists
2. Fair treatment and respect for privacy
3. Requirement for accuracy and impartiality
4. Protecting children and young people

They offer an avenue of redress to members of the public who wish to complain about their treatment at the hands of the press, alternatively to the time and expense of going to law.

Introduction to Media Law and Ethics

“If in doubt leave it out.” These are the wise words of Ian Anderson, former BBC editor. Every journalist needs to be aware of the regulatory body’s OFCOM and the Press Complaints Commission, educating ourselves on law and ethics to ensure that we would be able to recognise risks within copy. As a journalist we need to have a sixth sense of danger, constantly questioning what ultimately is safe to produce a report that is legally sound and entirely without error.  

This week we have seen three showbiz stars, in the dock for charges relating to indecent and sexual assault. Plastering the front pages of every newspaper, court reports covering the trials of William Roache, Rolf Harris and DJ Dave Lee Travis took the media by storm. Additionally the trial of Nigella’s Lawson’s assistants which left the celebrity cook feeling as though as a witness she was the one in the dock, after secrets unravelled relating to her past involving drugs.  These are just a few examples of how court is a rich source of stories for journalists, and with several important laws surrounding contempt of court, it is crucial that they know the laws with reporting the courts. Detailed notes on this can be found here. (This includes a detailed diagram of the legal court system.)

The press are currently under scrutiny following the Leveson Inquiry, and due to the phone hacking revelation there is now a standoff between politicians and the press over press regulation. David Cameron argued that the PCC failed after a ‘meaningless’ and inadequate report into phone hacking, leading to row over who polices the press? This could be the biggest shift in media policy that we will see.

There is two part division in law: criminal and civil. The difference being that criminal is a crime against society e.g robbery, murder, assault and civil is a dispute between two parties for example family law or divorce. 

A famous libel case known as McLibel, was the longest running case in English history. The battle was between McDonalds and the McLibel two: (Steel & Morris) over a pamphlet that was critical of the company. ‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s: Everything they don’t want you to know,’ was the title of their leaflet. The judge ruled that some of the claims were libellous but other were true.  The original case lasting 10 years, awarded Macdonalds £40k but they announced that they did not plan to collect this money from the Courts. Following this decision the European court of Human Rights ruled that the original trial denied the two a fair trial, breaching Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) ordering the UK government to pay Steel and Morris £57k in compensation.

Over the coming weeks we will be discussing all the areas within law including confidentiality, privacy, freedom of information, copy right, codes of conduct, court reporting etc so watch this space for more to follow on media law.