Journalism courses - Media Law for Beginners
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Media Law for Beginners is targeted at young people who are determined to follow careers in journalism.
All published writers need to have a much more detailed and accurate knowledge of the law than ordinary members of the public. Slander, libel, contempt of court, breach of copyright – do these terms mean anything to you? If not, your work cannot be published safely without an experienced editor studying what you have written to ensure you have not broken the law.
This applies whether you are working for newspapers, magazines, radio, TV or the internet. It applies whether you specialise in columns or reviews, travel articles or consumer tests. But it applies most of all if you are a reporter covering hard news stories.
Aspiring journalists – especially those who have gained their initial writing experience on student papers and internet websites – sometimes assume they can write what they like with impunity. This is not the case. There are numerous laws restricting what we can write, many of them protecting ordinary people’s rights – the right to a fair trial, for example, or the right not to have one’s reputation unfairly attacked.
There are two reasons why all journalists need to have a detailed working knowledge of the law. One is so that they know their rights – how far they can safely go when writing a story without breaking the law. This means knowing when they are permitted to attend courts and council meetings, understanding what is meant by terms like freedom of expression, recognising when a story is in the public interest and knowing what defences exist in defamation and contempt cases.
The other is so that they can recognise potential legal pitfalls – and abide by the legal restrictions imposed on them. more >
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