Handling of Stories
Involving Minors
The BBC guidelines state that
they "ensure the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of
children and young people is protected during the making and broadcast of our
content, irrespective of any consent given by them or by a parent, guardian or
other person acting in loco parentis. Their interests and safety must take
priority over any editorial requirement." The Ofcom say that the purpose of the guidelines is to ensure that people
under the age of eighteen are protected. Within the guidelines it states that
certain news stories should be scheduled appropriately judged by the nature of
the content, the age range of children in the audience, the nature of the
station, the time of day and the start to finish time of the programme.
When putting together a news
story that will be broadcasted across a specific radio, there are legal checks
to take into consideration. For example if a story includes someone that has
committed a crime and they’re under the age of 18, their names are not allowed
to be told.
Contempt of Court
The contempt of court is the offense of going against or being
disrespectful towards a court of law and its officers. For example the Daily Mail and Daily
Mirror was fined £10,000 each and was ordered to pay £25,000 apiece in costs
for breaching contempt of court laws with their coverage of Levi Bellfield’s
conviction for the abduction and murder of Milly Dowler. The articles in both
newspapers contained background information about the case which the high court
said went further than what the jury had been told in the court.
Libel and
Defamation
Libel and defamation is saying or writing something about
someone that is false and damages their reputation. For example The Sun newspaper
published an article that Cameron Diaz had an affair with one of her friends,
Shane Nickerson. The article also had contained a hardly recognisable image
that caused damage to both relationships. Cameron Diaz sued The Sun for
defamation. Also another case is that Robin Williams sued his celebrity look
alike who was pretending to be the actual Robin Williams. This imposter was
deceiving charities under name which causes serious damage to his reputation.
Coverage of
Elections
The principle of this is to ensure that the communications
act and other guidelines that relates to broadcasting on elections and
referendums are applied at the time of the elections and referendums. This
basically means that at the time elections, news reporters give their opinion
of be biased about a certain party. In the BBC guidelines it states that "On polling day the BBC, in common with other
broadcasters, will cease to report campaigns from 06.00 until the polls close.
Coverage will be restricted to uncontroversial factual accounts, such as the
appearance of politicians at polling stations or the weather. Subjects which
have been at issue or part of the campaign, or other controversial matters
relating to the election, must not receive coverage on polling day, to ensure that
nothing in the BBC's output can be construed as influencing the ballot while
the polls are open."
Official
Secrets Act
It is an offense for anyone to disclose certain information,
documents or other articles relating to security or intelligence. For example
with the James Bulger case, the people who tortured and murder the young boy
were put under witness protection and given new names. If anyone told the names
of the killers, it would be breaching the contract of the official secrets act.
A hacker names Glenn Mulcaire faces prosecution for obtaining the identities of
four notorious offenders, one of them being Robert Thompson which is one of the
killers of James Bulger.