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McNae Essential Law For Journalist summary notes
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Essential law for journalist notesThe landscape of law, ethics and regulation
“The importance of freedom of expression, and the journalist’s position as a watchdog ensuring a properly
informed public in a democratic society, has been stressed by the UK courts and the European Court of Human
Rights.” In 2000, Lord Bingham stated that the media enables individuals to educate the majority, enabling
them to participate on a greater level in society. “The proper functioning of a modern participatory democracy
requires that the media be free, active, professional and enquiring.” A journalist reflects a sense of truth in a
society which may filter the role of a safeguard who acts upon the interest of the majority.
The primary sources of law are the common law, precedent and statute.
1. Common law: “when England's legal system began to take shape in the Middle Ages, royal judges were
appointed to administer the ‘law and custom of the realm.’ This developed local laws into the common
law - that is, the law applying nationwide.” These are ‘judge-made laws.’
2. Precedent law: the court must follow the decisions of previous cases of the same or higher court in
similar circumstances. “Precedents evolve and develop the common law” and are sometimes referred
to as “case law.” The Supreme Court’s judgements bind all the other UK laws, except Scotland’s
criminal courts. The Supreme Court can overrule their previous decisions, which if desired, could be
overturned or reversed by legislation despite.
3. Statutes and statutory instruments: common law can be modified or entirely replaced by statute laws
which are Acts of Parliament and are seen as being lawfully superior as they are primary legislations.
“UK governments have made increasing usage of secondary legislation known as statutory
instruments.” However, these must be approved by parliament. If a statute law is considered too
‘vague’ it can be disputed in court cases to enable a greater level of clarification.
The European Convention on Human Rights
Following the popularity of the Nazis,
following World War Two, the Council of
Europe promoted individual freedom,
political liberty and the Rule of Law in
response, evolving to become the European
Convention from the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms or the
European Convention on Human Rights. Such
rights under rights include privacy and family
life as well as freedom of expression. The
convention is apparent in 47 states, and if
abused, students can appeal to the Strasbourg
Court.
Convention rights
Article 10 of the Convention is the most significant for journalists as it gives everybody the right to freedom of
expression. “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression; This right shall include freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority.” However, a
journalist exercising this may result in a legal claim for conflicting with article 8 - respecting someone's privacy
and family life.
,Article 8
- “Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.”
- “There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in
accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security,
public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for
the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
Article 10
- “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and
regardless of frontiers.”
- “The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with its duties and responsibilities, may be subject to
such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by the law and are necessary
for a democratic society, in the interest of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for
the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the
reputation or right of others for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for
maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.”
Weighing competing rights
When a court is considering article 8 and 10, they will decide based on ‘a balancing exercise.’ No article is
considered as being superior. Other articles can be used to protect 8 against 10, for example, “if it is argued that
someone's name and/or address should not be published to protect him/her from violent criminals or
vigilantes.”
Divisions of the law
Criminal law deals with offences which harm the greater community and are considered as being offences
against the sovereign. A crown court case will be titled e.g. R v Smith. R stands for regina or rex depending on
whether the monarch is a Queen or king and R for the offender. Criminal courts have a defendant being
prosecuted through the pleading of guilty or not guilty, and if convicted may be sentenced to jail or the likes of a
fine.
Civil law concerns disputes between individuals and organisations - such as medical negligence, defamation
and copyright. A case like this would be presented in court as for example Brown v Smith. However, such laws
may potentially overlap one another depending on the nature of the situation. In civil courts, a claimant sues a
defendant or respondent who admits or denies liability. If liable, they’ll be ordered to pay damages. Other civil
court cases may also include divorce, disputes over wills and commercial matters.
The legal profession
Lawyers are either solicitors or barristers. Solicitors deal directly with the client. They advise a client’s case and
provide advice. Solicitors may represent their clients in court, whilst solicitor apartments may appear in the
higher courts. Barristers, collectively known as counsel, wear wigs and gowns in the higher courts, the crown
and county courts but not in magistrates’ courts. Barristers with over 10 years of experience may be eligible to
become a Lord Chancellor for appointment as a Queen or King’s Counsel.
Press Regulation
The IPSO or the Independent Press Standards Organisation uses the Editor’s Code of Practice to file complaints
on behalf of those written about in newspapers, websites and magazines. In the US, there is no state control
regarding who can or cannot own or run their own website, magazine or news organisation - this as a result
prevents state intervention in the press.
,Fragmentation of press regulation
In 2011, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was discredited because it failed to investigate the extent of
the phone hacking scandal by the journalists at the News of the World.
- The Independent Press Standards Organisation or IPSO: An individual who has approached the IPSO
will be asked which part of the Editors’ Code has, in their view, been breached. An individual can only
complain within 5 months of a piece’s publication, or 12 months if digital. IPSO’s complaint process is
free to use and all news organisations signed with IPSO are contractually obliged to cooperate with
their standards. Damages can be awarded up to £60,000. IPSO has the power to fine members of
publication up to £1 million for breaching the code.
- Members of the IPSO must produce annual reports demonstrating the ethical training that their
journalists have received as well as how they handle their complaints.
- ISPO may suggest that a complaint is not justified, or can be dismissed through the likes of an editor’s
apology or the publication of corrections. In 2020, IPSO received more than 30,000 complaints and
inquiries, a majority of which were considered as not being a breach of the code. 496 were taken
forwards in investigation whilst 77 were found as having had a code clause breached.
The editor’s code
The editors’ code has 16 clauses which set out the ethical standards on a range of issues such as accuracy,
privacy, the welfare of a child, preventing harassment as well as banning extensive details regarding the
coverage of suicides.
- Clause 2: Privacy
- Clause 3: harassment
- Clause 4: grief and shock
- Clause 6: a child’s welfare
- Clause 8: coverage of hospitals and institutions
- Clause 9: relative crime suspects and defendants.
If an individual complains to IPSO about a comment on a member’s website, ISPO will regard the complaint
depending on whether it has been moderated before publication. Breaching the code is not a criminal offence
but instead ethical conduct. If somebody states their privacy has been breached, a journalist can potentially
justify their actions by stating that it was in the public’s interest. This is used if the information
- Detects or exposes a crime or its threat
- Protecting public health or safety
- Protecting the public from being misled by an action or statement of an individual or organisation
- Disclosing a person or organisation’s failure to comply
- Disclosing a miscarriage of injustice
- Raising or contributing to public debate
To state that such information is in the public interest emphasises the potential significance that journalism has
in the maintenance of order in society. The welfare of a child however is an exception to this as their privacy
needs to be secured. To use the idea of public interest however is only valid with evidence (“will need to
demonstrate that they reasonably believed publication - or journalistic activity taken with a view to publication
- would both serve, and be proportionate to, the public interest and explain how they reacher that decision at
the time.”)
The Luck Case
In 2019, ISPO found that Colin Luck’s complaint that the Mail on Sunday had violated clause 10 of the Editors’
Code through their usage of the headline “Exposed: The Sex for Rent Landlords.” Luck, a landlord, had
advertised for a female student to come to stay on his property for free in exchange for “intimacy and
companionship. The newspaper argued that such ‘service’ was illegal and so authorised a female reporter to
anonymously approach Luck with the expression of interest. They justified such a report and investigation
, stating that this was in the public interest as these living conditions could be sexually threatening or targeted at
the vulnerable. The newspaper evidenced this by announcing that Luck had made sexual advancements toward
the female reporter referring to sexual acts.
Accuracy and opportunity
to reply
Clause one states “the press
must take care not to
publish inaccurate,
misleading or distorted
information or images,
including headlines not
supported by the text.” As
well as “while free to
editorialise and campaign
must distinguish clearly
between comment,
conjecture and fact.” Most
complaints to IPSO claim
inaccuracy as their
reasoning. Articles of
inaccuracy cannot be
justified by the journalist as
there is no public interest in
what is not accurate.
Examples of publications where IPSO confirmed that clause one had been breached through the usage of false
information:
1. A Daily Star front page reporting on the death of Lorna Brooke falsely referred to her as ‘Laura Brooke’
and when correcting their mistake four days later, again failed to fix their mistake by referring to her
as Brookes. (Chambers v Daily Star, 18th of August 2021.)
2. A caption of a man smoking from a shisha pipe by Thurrock.numb.news stated that the man in
question was consuming drugs as there was a “smell of drugs”, however, it was found the publisher
had no evidence of what the individual was actually smoking. (A Man v Thurrock.nub.news, 17th of
February 2021.)
3. A 2020 Daily Telegraph article reported in its headline that “half of Britain’s imported coronavirus
cases originated from Pakistan” however, IPSO found that this was misleading as this information was
very minimalistically referenced and the statistics were only collected throughout the period of three
weeks - therefore not accurate. (The Centre for Media Monitoring v The Daily Telegraph, 26th of
November 2020.)
4. An article released by the Express reported that football player James Milner had been booed during a
match, however, it was actually found that Milner did not participate in the captioned match and
therefore was not booed at all. The news organisation later confessed that the piece was written before
the stated match had even occurred. (Walters v Express.co.uk, 30th of April 2020.)
ISPO does not place interest in the legal proof confirming whether somebody is right or wrong, however
instead that a publication has taken “care” to avoid the publication of inaccurate information. In 2021, the
Metropolitan Police filed a complaint after the Mail online presented speculation as being facts rather than
confirming their collected details. If the publication of unproven allegations occurs, a publisher may not be
reported to ISPO, but can be sued for defamation enabling the case to become legal.
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