Media Law 3

Libel defences

To be found guily of Libel you must have done these three things;

.Defamation

.Identification

.Publication.

To defame someone what you said must have done one of the following:

. exposed him to hatred, ridicule, or contempt

.caused him to be shunned or avoided

.lower him in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally

.disparage him in his business, trade, office or profession.

Identifying is simply naming someone. This can be done accidently however, you must be careful not to name some facts that could lead to the identification of some body.

Publication is to one or more person. So a blog can be classed as publcation, it isn't just professionals that can get in trouble!

The defences against Libel are as follows;

Justification - basically to avoid any legal action you must simply prove that it is true such as calling someone a murderer if they have been convicted of it, and you are sorted!

Comment - Your personal opinion. It can be used as a defence as long as there is no malice and it has to be an opinion based on fact. For example you can say that John Terry is not that good at football, but you can't say he is rubbish at making pizza, because you probably haven't tried any of his pizza...I would of thought.

Qualified Privilege - The two types are; Common law Q.P. and Statutory Q.P.

Qualified;

Means you are above the law; a judge has absolute privilege in court. Also anything said in parliament is covered by Q.P.

As a journalist has Q.P. but it is limited. You can report what is said in court but it must be fast accurate and fair. This means it must be published as soon as possible and not sat on for weeks, it must be accurate to every detail and fair, not bias or anything of that sort.

You must include their plea and that the case is continuing.

Common law Q.P.

Some people should be allowed to say defamatory things for the common convenience of society.

For example a case of a soldier who shot and killed youths in Northern Ireland and got convicted of murder. Campaign groups to free him called the prosecuting IRA terrorists, they were allowed to say this for the common convenience of society.

The 10 point test was set out to give journalists a guideline when reporting cases.

1. The serious of the allegation

2. The nature of the information

3. The source of informtion

4. The steps taken to verify the information

5. The status of the information

6. Urgency of matter

7. Whether comment was sought from the claimant

8. Whether the article contained the fist of the claimants side of the story

9. The tone of the article

10. The circumstances of the publication.

Winol 19/10/11

Another Successful bulletin from the Winol team, and I would like to extend my most sincerest gratitude to every one who put the hard work in to make it happen... that didn't sound sincere but I assure you it was!

Julies Story on Hampshire police officers is first and foremost a great find and goes to show that you can uncover great stories simply by putting in an FOI request, well done Juilie! The graphic that Julie is standing in front of is very good and well put together. However I would criticise that the story does drag on a little bit too long and there are a lot of facts to take it. The script could be slightly shorter so that the facts can be absorbed easier.

Toms story has a good range of opening GV's that are engaging to watch. There is a change in the sound of the voice over though, I assume they were recorded separately, I know it's a bit nit picky but hey that's how a Don thinks! The interview is good and gets a good opinion out however it would be good to get he woman saying how unfair it is and how no one will be able to cope. A very good range of shots which is impressive!

The library oov is again another good local story that I think is suitable for an oov rather than a package.

The strike story is good to follow up on as it firstly gives a good story with not much work needed to revisit. Also it shows our viewer that we are keeping up to date with the story and that

The sports team excelled once again with a big and diverse range of sport to offer for both he bulletin and sports week. It is good to know that if needs be the news team can come to us to fill up the bulletin if stories have been dropped for any reason.

Sam and Henry did really well with their Boxing and Dodgeball features that were fun and interesting to watch and it shows they weren't afraid to experiment with and enjoy making their features.

I was once again on Ice Hockey once again at the home of the mighty Bison, who are still experiencing some unsteady form. I managed to overcome my problem of getting my white balance right for this game. The problem being the lighting changes from the warm up to the start of the game, and the camera takes a while to adjust to the change of light, this time I left it alone and I think it paid off. The game was exciting once again, and as the weeks go on I am getting more confident with my filming, and am attempting to get closer when I think there is a chance. There is always the possibility of loosing the puck when going in close, but I feel I am beginning to read the game better and am able anticipate when I need to zoom in on the action. With nine goals in the game it was going to be again full of action, I left the goals a little bit longer by including more of the build up play as I think the previous week it was a bit too fast paced. This also meant that the goals don't look too similar as they can do on a small playing ice rink. The pitch and tone of my voice was good again I think, but it still needs improvement possibly getting more animated when recording the voice over could help. I had a problem with the focus, I think it must have been set on auto focus as when I moved the camera quickly it would go out of focus and sometimes focus in on the railings when they got in shot. I need to check the settings more carefully to make sure this doesn't happen again. The sound recording was better also as I turned down the sound on the recording so it wasn't too loud. For next week I will try to improve my voice over to make it more enthusiastic and I think that will improve my package.

winol 12/10/11

The Bulletin was overall very much improved on the calamity that was last week with everyone in the news room and production generally working much harder and as a team.

Julies council cuts story is very good. However the first interview we hear about facts about jobs being cut rather than his opinion. At the end he says something like the council could do more I would like to hear more about him complaining. Julie has done well to get balance from the southampton councillor.

Tom's story is a good national story scaled down locally well by Tom. The sequence leading to the first interview is a bit too long I think this could have been mixed up with some different shots. The interview is good, However it could be framed tighter as it has his whole upper body in shot which isn't necessary. Also the cut away to him talking whilst he was still talking was a bit confusing. The second interview is very good the interviewee is clear and gets his point across well.

Louis, very hard to get GV's for this story I think maybe some more shots of people doing things inside. The first voice over is very good it gives us a clear idea of what is going on. The interviewee is is sitting down and looking up which looks a bit strange. I think that the woman working at the shelter should have given her view rather than just straight facts. The councillor says that the lib dems failed, this is a great thing to hear him say so well done for getting that out of him.

There was a few too many oov's, they could have been broken up as it could lead to the viewer getting a bit,well, bored!

Sport wise everyone managed to deliver again, and it is good to see that everyone is pulling their weight, because if one of us starts slacking it can have repercussions for the whole team.

My Ice Hockey piece included 13 goals which admittedly was a bit of a nightmare to pack into a maximum time slot of one minute thirty! It meant that I wouldn't be able to fit all the goals into my package. I took out two goals and used my voice over to explain that goals had been scored. Once again I think that my voice has improved along with my scripting, I tried harder this week to improve the tone on my voice, and as Ice Hockey is a fast intense sport I had to make the enthusiasm in my voice match that or it just wouldn't sound right.

I think that a few of the goals were a bit similar to each other which may have looked like I used the same shot but I can put everyone to rest and say that they were just almost identical goals! Angus mentioned that I could have had a bit more fun with it, which I agree with. I thought about making the voice over a bit exciting and being playful but as it was going in the bulletin I didn't want it to be too silly. Next time that two teams score that many goals I think I will try and be a bit more playful with the script rather than ' goal, goal, goal'. As I can now see that it was maybe a bit confusing to see that many goals and action within such a short space and time and really take it in! Also for my next piece I think I will use some natural sound at the start of the piece as it seems a waste not to use the natural sound that is really pleasing to the ear.

Flick's piece again needs to have the interviewee saying that it is amazing that this is happening rather than explaining the facts. The interviews are very well framed and hearing the scientist saying it's 'surreal' and 'awesome' is the kind of comment that is good to hear!

As I said the sports and news team have been great once again. Great to see every body working hard!

Winol 05/10/11

This week winol hit the air for the first official show after the dummy run. As far as sport the sports team is concerned I feel we all had very much to be proud of but could also improve in many areas as well.

The sport bulletin was very well delivered by Sam, with a clear and confident voice. Good to see that Sam came across confident as for the first time in front of the live cameras and full gallery can be very daunting.

On to the content. The OOV by mikey was very well shot with some good action shots. Dael's Eastleigh package was again well shot, with some good delivery on the commentary.

Personally I feel my Hockey package came together well for a first time effort. I found it difficult to follow the game at times as it is such a fast paced game. Luckily for me there was only five goals which made it easier to follow. I was particularly proud of one shot in particular in which i managed to follow the puck from the shot all the way to the goal, something I had been trying all game, this time it paid off maybe call it luck or skill I don't know but it looked good! The idea when putting it together was to try and make it as fast paced as possible as it is in real life. The sports gives you a chance to get some really exciting shots into your package and I feel visually I delivered, even managing to include a punch up near the end! I think that I have come a long way from my original sports packages in terms of my voice over. I tried to improve the delivery by changing my pitch and being more enthusiastic to make the intensity of the game. There is a long way to go in terms of perfecting my technique, but the delivery was definitely an improvements on previous work.

An interesting point was made by guest editor was that she felt we could expand our sport to include more of a wider audience. I agree in the sense that we do isolate anyone who doesn't support Eastlleigh, Basingstoke or Winchester. However we do get large viewings from Basingstoke football fans who rely on our service to watch there favourite team in action. That being said I think it would help if we had more sports news stories that will appeal to a wider audience. Expanding our sport coverage to Ice Hockey has prove our intent. If we can keep improving on our current sport coverage and include some more sport news then we should keep the viewing numbers rising!

HCJ revision notes

1. Outline the verification principle as part of the school of thought known as logical positivism, how might this be applied to journalism.

· The verification principle basically means that if something cannot be verified than it is neither true nor false but just nonsensical. For example a certain moral or ethical belief cannot be proved though means of collecting data or science so its nonsensical
· Ludwig Wittgenstein says that there is no point in talking about things that you can’t prove as it makes no sense.
· Solipsism- people should only talk about things that exist in their world. Some people believe that our minds make up the world so we should only talk about what out actual mind can see rather than things like heaven and hell which can’t be proved.
· In relation to journalism, by following these ideas it means that people will believe only what they see. If someone tells a journalist a story they need to be 100% sure that it is true and before they see it in the world they perceive then they is no point publishing or broadcasting it. Furthermore it must be able to be proved to be true or it is pointless talking about it according to logical positivism. So only when a fact enters your world and you see it can it be considered real, which would avoid any false information being released.


2. What is phenomenology can there be a subjective reality or subjective truth, what standards ought a journalist apply.

· Kant believes that things exist only when we perceive them and that they are only there when we look at them.
· Kant would say that there is a thing in itself ( Noumena) such as a table but it only really exists once we use our senses and perceive it (phenomena)
· Other thinkers such as Locke and Hume think that objects in the world are always there regardless of whether we perceive them. (empirical thinkers)
· Phenomenology is creating things with your mind, the idea that we will the world to exist by thinking of it.
· In existentialism, the intentions that we have make the world, and solipsism is the idea that we can change what we see with our thinking.
· In relation to journalism, a journalist should apply the idea that truth and reality are not always the same. There are things in the world that are true but we must experience them for ourselves to know if they are real or not. Kant thinks that you can have a priori knowledge about some things in the world, which I think is true, but we must experience the noumenal world to understand it.

3. Describe JM Keynes ideas on monetary policy with an indication of how the Keynesian ‘revolution’ came about. Does this lead to social regression, moral failure and serfdom as Hayek asserts.
· Economists try to see world from non phenomenological way
· The depression of the 30’s brought it about (Keynesian revolution)
· In the war the government printed worthless money for total employment.
· The multiplier; people get a pointless job, spend their wages in a shop the person who works in the shop can buy things now etc. Etc. Money makes the world turn.
· Keynes wanted to boost aggregate demand, and thought government should increase spending rather than saving to boost recovery.
· Keynes thinks government spending to keep people employed will keep the flow of cash going round which is key.
· Keynes thinks that even if a country has no gold they should print money and keep people employed.
· Thought the government should intervene to avoid severe unemployment.
· Since the recession of 2008 started, the government has seen a return to a more Keynesian like policy.
· Says that peoples spending will catch up with the new money supply. The key is that people spend and buy what the economy in producing without jobs this isn’t possible.
· Keynes wanted to control the market whereas Hayek wanted them to be free.
· Hayek thinks that saving is the right thing to do and Keynes ideas lead to radical movements in society ‘serfdom’

4. ‘Facts in logical space are the world.’ Tractatus Do you agree?
· It rejects Metaphysics
· Says that there is no ideal form, no noumena, the world is just made of facts that are in our mind
· Facts make the world, I agree as facts are the truth and represent everything in the world.
· Without facts the world could not exsist. FACT.
· Without facts we cannot verify things as we have nothing to compare it to so otherwise everyone is chatting nonsense.
· The world consists of facts which is the basis for logical thinking.
· People have different opinions of the world but the facts are there and cannot be changed.


5. Choose a movement or thinker we have discussed who has affected journalism.

Wittgenstein’s ideas on logical positivism sticks in my mind and not just because it was the most recent thing we studied. He says in the Tractatus that; ‘there are no grounds for believing that the simplest eventuality will actually be realized.’ He uses an example of the sun rising saying that just because it rose doesn’t mean it will again the next day. I have my own example of crossing a road; you look left and right and right again seeing that the road is clear. However this doesn’t mean a drugged up nutcase on a bank robbery get away job can’t come down the wrong side of the road and hit you from the left! The point is you can never assume anything even if it really is the simplest occurrence that happens every day, facts must be checked as they make up the world. You cannot talk about things you don’t actually know and can yourself verify. One of, if not, the biggest mistakes a journalist can make is to get their facts wrong. This is why we must always believe only what we see and can prove, also this school of thought has allowed me to rely on myself and trust myself more in life as well as journalism as I can prove myself what is true and not rely on a next man gassing it.

QPR FA hearing

Like many Queens Park Rangers fans I have been sweating at the thought of QPR losing out on automatic promotion as champions.

The question that seems to be being asked all over the internet is; is it fair?

Is it fair to dock a team points, strip them of the title they have won on the pitch beating teams 11 v 11 for 90 minutes? As a fan I am naturally bias and say no, of course the squad have done nothing wrong and have nothing to do with transfer deals. The squad that won enough points to mathmaticlly secure promotion deserve their title as champions.

IF and that is a big IF, the board or individual staff are found of any intentional wrong doing then they should be punished. It doesn't seem fair to strip the players, and fans to some extent, of what they have rightfully won. Lets put it this way if a big multi-million pound company were found to be in breach of some trading rules, would the staff be fined? Would the employee of the month get thier plaque taken off the wall because of some fidling of the finances rom the boys upstairs? Of course they Wouldn't the people who did wrong would be punished. And IF the qpr board are found to be in breach of the Leauges rules is it fair to demean all the hard work of the football players? These are the questions the FA may be thinking about now as I type.

The other issue surrounding the alleged charges is the somewhat rediculous timing of the FA to have the inquest. The player in question was signed ion 2009, yet the final descion on the clubs fate has been brought against the club ONE day before the end of the footballing season. The FA seem to have been alerted about the problem a good few months ago and yet the case happens in the last week! If qpr were to be deducted points earlier in the season they at least would of known what was needed for promotion. Because of this reason the FA may have to think carefully about what punishment they give out as in the eyes of the public they may have seen to have been very incompitant. Also the desicion could open an entirely new can of worms; throwing the play offs in to a complicated mess.

To your everyday sports fan, the charges brought against the club are very difficult to understand unless you have some sort of legal background. However if QPR have been in breach of the rules, this fan hopes that a heafty fine will be sufficient to punish any wrong doing.

Tractatus

Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in to a wealthy Austrian family, and he served in the Austrian Army in the First World War. He started Work on the Tractatus towards the end of the First World War. He studied engineering at Manchester which led to an interest in maths and philosophy. Ludwig was a student of Russell Bertrand, and learnt a lot from him; however a lot of his ideas laid out in the Tactatus seem to differ from that of his teacher, even pointing out faults in his logic. The book talks about logical positivism, and the connection between language and thought. He talks about the way in which the world works through language.
Ludwig’s theory is based on the way in which language is used in the world, and says that language is everything and everything is language. He says that without language the world cannot exist, and that logic is the structure of reality. Ludwig says that things can be true or false but also nonsensical, which is something that can’t be proved to be true or false therefore it simply makes no sense. Wittgenstein says that things can only be said that are true about the factual world, anything else is nonsensical such as a certain moral or ethical belief as it cannot pass the verification principle. He goes on to say in the book that the problem with a lot of philosophers theories is their inability to understand language, which means by his theory, makes some of the theories that they put forward nonsensical. He says the world consists of, and is determined by facts. This is the basis for logical thinking; he says there are objects in the world that which make the world exist. He says that without language objects cannot be verified. Space time and colour are forms of objects.
Ludwig often talks about a proposition which is the way to communicate something through spoken or written word; it is made out of specific names in a particular logical form. A proposition is a logical picture of reality, an example of this would be saying ‘this house is red’. There are types of propositions such as tautologies which are true and contradictions which are false. He says; ‘a proposition is neither probable nor improbable, either an event occurs or it does not; there is no middle way.’ This could relate to everyday life as people often chat a load of nonsense, and Ludwig says that there are only two ways to decipher a statement it either happens or doesn’t. Ludwig also talks about states of affairs, States of affairs is the combination of objects or things. He says that the structures of a fact consist of the states of affairs. To try and simplify, a factual statement consists of a combination of objects that fit in to each other like a chain to make sense, however a state of affairs can only exist if the proposition itself is true and not false. He says that; ‘language disguises thought’, he says that a human can speak without actually knowing how the sound of speech is made. He makes the comparison of clothes covering a body saying that you can’t tell what exactly the body looks like as the clothes cover the true form of the body. This could mean that some people often talk about things that they really know nothing about, either through straight lying or just pretending they are knowledgeable on the subject and they use language to disguise what they are actually thinking.
When talking about pictures we get a clear idea about his views on fact and logic. He says that a picture is fact; a picture represents what it portrays in pictorial form only. A picture represents a possible situation in logical space. To know whether a picture itself is true or false we must ourselves compare it with our reality. This means that we can use our own mind and experiences to find out whether something is true or false. A picture only shows something that is fact but the truth of it we can only discover personally.
One of his key ideas was solipsism; he says that you cannot talk about anything other than what exists in your world. He goes on to say that; ‘there are no grounds for believing that the simplest eventuality will actually be realized.’ Wittgenstein thinks that there is no way of knowing if anything will happen just before it has happened before, or something else has happened. He seems to think that the world is only what you can see before you and that you can’t know anything else other than what you have experienced personally and therefore you cannot make assumptions about anything else in life. He says that people may have different impressions of the world; however the facts and objects in the world remain the same. One person can view the world as fun and exciting where as other may see it as corrupt and harsh; however the facts of the world from the ground we walk on to the air we breathe are still exactly the same.
Ultimately he is saying that we must use language to try and explore facts as people can lie or not know what they are talking about. Understanding language and logic, we can ourselves find the truth without having to rely on what people are saying we can determine it for ourselves. The book shows what exactly a factual statement must consist of such as propositions, tautology etc. Without these principles what someone is saying cannot be true, or will be nonsensical which isn’t necessarily false but just doesn’t make sense. The world cannot be verified without the use of language, every proposition that is true makes the world and we need language to verify and confirm what is true.