Law Lecture #4

FOI (Freedom of information act)

Journalists thrive off information and it is often a large part of their character that they are nosy and love finding out new information. 


FOI Law - Freedom of Information Act 2000

Instead of saying we are going to protect information, the whole point is to release it. The government may want to do this, as they want to be seen to be open.
The government can not make you do things, i.e. have a police officer in every room to make you do things. They want to control you without looking. 
They get legitimacy through democracy (who we vote for) and accountability (if we are angry about the government, we want a way to voice our anger). 

We have a right to this information, as we pay for this stuff. We pay tax etc so we have the right to this information. It relates to us. 

Any person can request (and receive) information from a public body (approx. 130,000 e.g. police, NHS etc) , subject to certain exemptions.
It doesn’t only apply to paper files either, it also includes any information of video, tape or anything electronically.

You can be anybody to get this information as you pay tax and deserve the right to this information.

There are 100,000 requests a year and it costs £34 million to give this information out.
Only 12% of these people are Journalists. 

FOI was a New Labour policy objective (2005)

“Unnecessary secrecy in government leads to arrogance in government and defective policy decisions” - Tony Blair

• Promoting accountability and transparency
• Furthering the understanding of and participation in public debate of issues of the day
• Allowing individuals and companies to understand decisions made by public authorities affecting their lives
• Bringing to light information affecting public health and public safety. 

The last three bullet points are a good example of public interest. 

What does it cover?

EVERYTHING

The basic principle of FOI is: “Any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled ... to have that information communicated to him.”

EXCEPT

FOI gives you the legal right of access to any piece of information held by most public authorities, unless theres a valid reason. 

How do you make an FOI request?
An FOI request should be in writing. Email is fine. It’s free.

They can say no because it’s too expensive. If it costs more than £600 (or £460 for smaller authorities). But you do not have to accept this decision.

There are two kinds of exemptions:

1. Absolute (eg security services, court records) They have no duty to confirm or deny that any information exists.
2. Qualified (eg ministerial communications, commercial confidentiality

Where the information is covered by a qualified exemption, you should still be given it if the balance of the ‘public interest’ favours disclosure. (Public Interest Test)

Public Interest - in the public interest - not merely interesting to the public.

For example:
How many NHS nurses have criminal convictions? (public interest)
How many NHS nurses are divorced? (merely of interest)

Qualified Exemptions (23 possible exemptions)
Under a qualified exemption, information can be witheld where ‘the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.’ 

• Likely to jeopardise national security
• Likely to prejudice defence or international relations
• Information intended for future publication
• Which prejudice the economic interests of the UK
• Which might prejudice law enforcement
• Communications with the royal family
  

How long does it take?
The public authority must respond ‘promptly’, which means 20 working days. Then 40 days if they need to consider the public interest. Remember there is no need to explain what the information is for - there is no distinction between the media and ordinary people.
What if they say no?

• Ask them why they haven’t responded - they’ll have an internal review
• You go to the information commissioner - they investigate
• You go to the information tribunal
• Then to the high court

A good example of this is Heather Brooke - expenses scandal. 

Update
Government is considering adding more limits to the FOI Act
Essentially the government wants to:

• Limit groups or individuals making too many requests where they become too ‘burdensome’. i.e. journalists
• Lower the limits on costs, leading to many more requests being refused
• Include other factors - such as the time taken to release information or not - into the cost calculations

Needless to say press organisations and freedom of speech campaigners have been very critical of plans. 

Law aspects to do with information
Data Protection is about keeping information from the public domain.
It is normally a barrier to information. There is on instance that you can get this information that we wouldn’t normally be able to get, you can get information about yourself. 
If people hold information on you, you are within your rights to ask for this information. 

Data Protection is about the world we are living in now. It’s about people who have information about you, i.e the Uni who have your details, you hand them over but the deal is they have to keep this private and only use it for the purposes that they hold it. 

Official Secrets Act - plans or anything particularly important. MOD sites. Protection for things which are crucial to the defense of this country.

Confidentiality - protection of information that is handed over. Discussion about a medical condition, there is an aspect of confidentiality within this. Recently in the news the story about medical researchers who want to analyse peoples medical data, and take samples from people who have some conditions and try and cure some diseases. 

Law Lecture #8

Reporting Elections

Reporting elections is a very important time for journalists. The public heavily rely on us to relay information about the elections has a whole and also the party campaigns. 
It is important to remember that not all polls are the same. 

Broadcasters must remain impartial when covering the elections. All of the major parties must be given equal coverage time. Consequently, newspapers can either swing towards left or right wing. 

The hard truths about elections

• Citizens base choices on your reporting
• Accuracy and impartiality even more vital
• Politicians love to shoot the messenger
• Campaign language is often ‘heated’

We, as journalists, are often the 'messengers' to the people. 

Maintaining Impartiality

• Absolute requirement for broadcasters
• Major and minor parties are different
• Keep an accurate log of party coverage

Opinion polls and exit polls

• Criminal offense to publish before polls have closed
• No exit poll speculation
• Minimal reporting on polling day

An exit poll is a survey taken when people are leaving the polling station to find out which party they voted for. Before a poll has closed, it is a criminal offence to publish any statement about how people have voted or any hint or idea of the election results. 

Achieving balance

• Aim to achieve daily balance between parties
• Don’t be overly influenced by party 

As a summary it is essential to get to know election procedures. To report in the best way possible it will help to understand procedures inside out. Also the ability to judge the difference between election 'banter' and 'false statements' is a very important topic. As a reporter, we are the eyes and ears to the public and we must (as always) be certain about what we say, and the way we portray others. Not only this but we must remain impartial, especially when reporting in broadcast journalism. Without always meaning to, we as journalists have a lot of input in to what the public think about topics and this can sometimes mean voters base their choices on our reporting and the way we portray specific parties. By remaining impartial, it ensures we are always in the clear. 

On polling day, it is common that you will see minimal coverage from both campaigners and journalists. 

Law Lecture #7

Press Regulation 

As a journalist, we often have to comply to specific guidelines, depending what news organisation you are working for. 
Examples of these are; Ofcom, PPC, BBC editorial guidelines

A big cause of the recent crisis is the phone hacking scandal. Many issues were brought up which put journalists in a negative light and made many people believe the press needed regulating much more than before. A current debate is who guards the guardians? We are journalists are seen as messengers, a figure who is in between the authorities such as government and police and the public themselves. Ultimately, we are used as a voice and 'who polices the police' can come into this topic.

The main codes

• PCC - Newspapers and Magazines
• Ofcom - Broadcasters
• BBC - for BBC staff and licence payers
• NUJ - Code of conduct

The PPC is the press complaints commission. This is the regulation body for newspaper, magazines and written publications as a whole. It was thought that before the phone hacking scandal, the PPC was a body that could be disregarded by print organisations. 

Newspaper regulation is currently in limbo as often newspaper journalists simply comply to the regulations of their editor and stick to the guidelines which are used by the newspaper. The press want their own regulator.  

A large issue which the PPC are dealing with at the moment is the way the phone hacking scandal has affected them. Ultimately, this was going on whilst the PPC was in operation but the chose not to act. 

Ofcom is the licensing authority that relates to TV and radio broadcasters. Ofcom has a lot of power in comparison to the PPC and broadcasters must get a licence from Ofcom before they can broadcast anything. This ultimately, gives a lot of power to Ofcom and furthermore gives broadcasters less leeway. Ofcom can give direction to not repeat a programme, make the broadcasters issue a correction or statement, revoke a broadcast licence and impose fines up to 5% of revenue. 

BBC editorial guidelines is for BBC staff and licence payers. They are specifically designed to be a tool for journalists and programme makers, helping them all produce their work to the right style for the BBC. 

The BBC college of journalism is also another tool from the BBC is accessible to all and helps train journalists in the laws and ethics of the BBC. 

NUJ is the national union of journalists. This is a guide to the type of good conduct journalists should perform. 

Why do codes matter?

• They guides us through ethical issues such as;
• How far can we go to get a story?
• What practices are legitimate?
• When do circumstances make a difference?

Purposes

• The law is specific and limited
• Codes provide a benchmark for behaviour
• Reassure our audiences - build trust

Key areas

• Ethical behaviour
• Fair treatment - respect for privacy
• Requirement for accuracy and impartiality

Impartiality

• Requirement for broadcasters
• NOT for newspapers - hence Sun or Mail
• Absence of bias or preconception
• Considers ‘axis of debate’

When reporting, it is difficult to decide what are legitimate practices and what are not. When covering events such as funerals. As a journalist you want to cover the event as honestly as possible but it is also essential to respect the family. It is important to make judgement at the time. 

Law Lecture #6

Breach of confidence & Qualified Privilege

This weeks Law lecture was based on breach of confidence. This is where someone leaks certain confidential information. Papers have leaked information in the past and as long as can be proven it is within the public interest, it can be ok. Ultimately, this is still breaking the law but the public interest law allows journalists to sometimes get away with more than normal. An example of leaking information is Edward Snowden. Last year he leaked national security agency documents to journalists. It was a big controversy whether Snowden should be seen as a hero or traitor for releasing this information. 

Qualified Privilege
Qualified privilege is the defense when it is considered important that the facts should be freely known in the public interest. 
Other occasions in other reporting where qualified privilege will arise - annual general meeting.  The term qualified is a reference to qualified to circumstances in place. It’s got to be in the meeting. 

You can get qualified privilege - as long as reports are;
- Fair
- Accurate
- Without malice
- In public interest

Absolute privilege refers to courts and other court things. 

Situations where material is privileged - WITHOUT explanation or contradiction:

1. Public proceedings in a legislature anywhere in the world (i.e. Russia)
2. Public proceedings in a court anywhere in the world
3. Public proceedings of a public inquiry anywhere in the world

Part 2 Privilege

• Subject to explanation and contradiction
• Public Meetings
• Local councils and committees
• Tribunals, commissions, inquiries
• General meetings of UK public companies
• Company documents (if theres an error legally, you have protection as it was in the company document so they won’t go after you).
• Associations have different status
• Findings or decisions are covered
• Proceedings are not

Pressers

• Pressers are public meetings (Lords 2000)
• Written handouts also covered
• Consider risks of live broadcasting 

Privilege summed up
Your reports must be;

• Fair
• Accurate
• Without malice
• On matter of public interest
• No privilege outside main proceedings

An inquest is conduced by coroners. It is a legal procedure to establish the cause of death if it appears ‘violent or unnatural’. It does not rule on who may be responsible.

Inquest Juries
In exceptional cases where;

• Deceased was in state detention
• Death result of an action by police
• Result of workplace accident

Types of verdict

• Narrative verdicts: increasingly common
• Short form: ‘natural causes’/‘misadventure’/‘accidental death’/‘dependence on drugs’
• Unlawful killing or open verdict

Media Rules

• Inquest is a court proceeding protected by absolute privilege
• Covered by contempt of court act - so no publishing of prejudicial material
• Coroners can impose reporting restrictions

Ethics and treasure

• Be aware of bereaved families in your coverage - not all detail
• Coroners must decide whether found objects of value are ‘treasure’ and subject to reward

Law Lecture #5

Copyright

Copyright is an ongoing issue for not only journalists but also the public. When producing WINOL, many of us found the issues with copyright, especially in the feature industry. I was editor of our own fashion magazine, Absolutely. Ultimately, high end fashion magazines have the money to either pay for stunning photography to appear in their pages or if not, create their own with models, stylists, artists and sets. Unfortunately, with no budget it became an issue to try and create/find the type of photography we wanted to show on our website. A saviour in many ways was flickr. By searching for an image such as 'catwalk' you could find images from people who allow you to take their images, under creative commons and being free of copyright. If the image is under creative commons, most of the time the owner will state whether you can change the image, or whether you must attribute them when using the image.

In summary, copyright protects other peoples collective content. 
If you are using other peoples material you must attribute them. We can use the material under certain circumstances. 

There are particular rules that journalists must follow in regards to what they can take or 'lift' from other people's articles. This does not mean copying word for word of someones article, but more using quotes as long as we attribute what publication the quote is from. Journalists must respect copyright laws and understand the risks we face when using someone else's work. 

When talking about broadcasting, an exemption is covering a current news event. 

Because it’s a news event, we can use clips that are relevant to the time. i.e. the death of Shirley Temple in previous weeks. Many news broadcasters all use the same clips of the famous person. Although we do not have the copyright for these clips of this persons career, due to it being relevant to her death at this time, it’s our get out of jail free card. 

Copyright protects intellectual property.

What’s protected?
- Books, films, music, photographs - pretty much everything the product of original work
Things that aren’t protected are undeveloped ideas, slogans, catchphrases. 

Practical reasons for caring
Getting it wrong will cost you;

• Money
• Embarrassment and stress

We call it ‘fair dealing’
For the purpose of ‘reporting current events’ we can;
- Lift thrust of stories and quotes from rivals

• Must be attributed
• In the public interest
• Usage must be ‘fair’ 

Fair dealing relates to the idea that the content being used is for the purpose of reporting the current news event. However it must still be in the public interest. 

What fair dealing allows

• Wider reporting of stories in public interest
• Criticism and review of copyright material
• Broadcast news obits of film stars can use famous movie clips for free
• BUT photographs are never subject to fair dealing

Danger areas

• The internet - youtube, facebook etc
• Sports coverage - news access rights. Massive contract deals on who can cover what. For example, a story around a racing driver, your the BBC and that year you don’t have the rights to Formula 1 so you can’t show it. Rugby world cup win, BBC don’t have the rights to that so if they cover it they use stills and commentary rather than actual footage. 
• Photographs and film archive
  
  News access rights agreement  - we can only show the action a certain number of times in 24 hours. This relates to sport. You can’t show the goal being scored too many times in 24 hours. You have to check with sports producers about running sports stories and what times etc.
  

Points to remember

• Recognise copyright issues early
• Contracting rights holders takes time
• Tell others if you have copyright cleared
• Don’t lift material without reference up