Media Law

I have had my introductory lecture in Media law – I now find myself both slightly scared yet wiser because of it. There is a list of fatal – and quite rightly so – errors, and a list of attributes to abide by, or else I will find myself with a rather hefty lawsuit in the future. Both lists are colour-coded with the forever conventional colours of red and green (I’ll let you figure out which is for what).

If you have not guessed, here in red are the Fatal Errors:

• Malice – You cannot produce something with the intention of harming for your own gain, whether it be strongly opinionated, untrue, or misleading. This is the main ‘don’t’ of which the other list entries stem from.

• Dishonesty – You cannot, for example, interview a friend, relative, or anyone with whom you have an emotional connection with, or even someone you have bribed to help complete an assignment. Remember, honesty is the best policy!

• Causing Disrepute – This means that you cannot damage another’s reputation or behave in a manner which disrupts. For example, using offensive unmoderated content and racism, or even minor occurrences such as passing insults and common disrespect to inappropriate attire and bad time keeping.

• Reckless Inaccuracy – Especially when writing short pieces, Journalists are commonly scrutinised, and should therefore check more thoroughly for inaccuracy, whether it be incorrect facts or dodgey grammar. Check, check, check!

• Legal Problems – Just those two words can make any person’s skin crawl! Avoid, at all costs, problems such as defamation without justification (spoken is slander, and thus less serious, but when written, it is libelous, which is oh so serious!) otherwise you will find yourself in trouble.

• Regulatory Problems – This links in closely with the above point, as the lack of awareness may land me with a fail and disciplinary, and you with so much more.

Of course, if one was to cross any of these points, then they would find themselves in a lot of trouble, and I will find myself out of a course. Ouch.

However, there is always a yin to yang, and thus brings us to the green colour-coded list of Attributes:

• Disinterestedness – One should only work in the interests of the audience, and therefore should avoid reporting anything of personal interest, and therefore should not be overly passionate or biased when working on stories and interviews.
• Active prevention of race-hate and other forms of social injustice – Although this is mainly course-based, it is a good lesson to learn for life, as the human race should generally try to evolve from the dark and ignorant past and – unfortunately – present ways of societies all over the world.
• Development of Contacts – I have been told that ‘a Journalist is only as good as their contacts’. A wide range of professional sources for the use of interview subjects (for example: local and central government agencies, political parties, and pressure groups) is a must. But, alas, there are those who are bent on sabotaging Journalists and the media, and so one should be very cautious of the information acquired.
• Responsibility – The practice of professionalism within this field, of course, holds many merits, and should always be exercised in order to be truly successful.
• 100% Factual Accuracy – Why would anyone trust a Journalist who gives constantly inaccurate factual information? If a Journalist is not 100% accurate, then they will potentially be out of their job as Journalists serve the public, and should inform them with the highest quality possible.
• Up to date knowledge and application of Media Law and Regulation – This is always useful as it shows great quality in work, and can theoretically keep Journalists from getting in various dilemmas.

Media Law, of course, is much more complex than listing a few pointers of good and bad, but these lists are great for initiating one’s understanding of Media Law. In order to expand my knowledge of Media Law, I will be studying McNae’s ‘Essential Law For Journalists’, so expect more blog posts centered around it.