LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND REPRESENTATION

DECLAN KERR
 Defamation

LEGAL Defamation is a false statement made by one

individual about another which could affect or
harm his/her reputation, which could result in
a big fine.There are two types of defamation -
Discrimination
It is illegal to discriminmate against anyone on
grounds of sex, age, disabilty or ethnic origin
when recruity or in the workplace
Slander and Libel.
IPSO is the legal regulator of Press. IPSO stands
for Independent Press Standards Organisation. It Slander- This is spoken, usually in public.
was brought into order after The Leveson Enquiry Libel- This is where the statement is printed or Data Protection Act
in 2011/2012, as there was a need for stricter laws broadcast on televison Journalists will gather various information
when publishing. There is a 16 code of conduct which could be confidential, this is protected
which includes: by the data protection act
Accuracy
Privacy
Harassment
Contempt of Court
Contempt of Court is acting so as not to prej-
Intrusion into grief or shock udice the outcome of a trail by not naming
Reporting Suicide indviduals.
Children
Children in sex cases
Hospitals
Reporting of Crime
Clandestine devices and subterfuge
Victims of sexual assault Copyright
Discrimination Copyright is part of intellectual property law.
Financial journalism Originators of material such as books, plays,
Confidential sources songs, photographs etc have automatic own-
Witness payments in criminal trials ership of that piece of work. As a result news-
Payments to criminals papers cannot use or copy without explicit
Also the Public Interest is considered in the code permisson
of conduct.
 Limitations
Ethical and Representation
There are limitations on what
can and what cannot be pub-
lished. Some of these are vou-
In addition to following lantary and some are statutory
the IPSO Code of Con- (established in law)

duct, Journalists must Statutory Limitations

consider ethical isses, in The Official Secrets Act
The Obscene Publications Act
other words what is right Contempt of Court

or wrong. Voulantry Limitations

Sometimes editors accept a tempory
Sometimes it is simply news blackout where reporting a seri-
ous crime might hinder in a police inves-
wrong moraly to print tigation but this is only for the duration
of the trial.
certain material, Journal-
ists must consider issues D-Notices
Requests from the government to
such as representation. not print certain stories - often of a
military nature