The BJTC Media Law, Regulation & Ethics Handbook

Tim Crook BA Hum BA Open LLB LLM PhD Emeritus Professor of Goldsmiths, University of London is President of the Chartered Institute of Journalists which is the world’s longest established professional association of journalists and only such body with a Royal Charter. He is the author of Comparative Media Law & Ethics, UK Media Law Pocketbook, (Routledge 2009 & 2013 with 2nd editions in 2021) and BJTC Media Law, Regulation and Ethics Handbook (annual). From 1981 to 2000 he ran a specialist news agency covering the Royal Courts of Justice and Central Criminal Court for UK broadcasters and was the UK’s first specialist broadcast legal affairs correspondent for IRN/LBC. He negotiated the first recorded broadcast from the Lord Chief Justice’s Court of the valedictory ceremony for Master of the Rolls Lord Denning in 1982, and campaigned against courtroom secrecy throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In the process, he secured a European Court of Human Rights settlement with the UK government following a judicial review in his name which exposed the lack of any appeal or legal remedy against court reporting bans and decisions to exclude the press and the public from Crown Court proceedings. This resulted in the special Section 159 appeal procedure in the 1988 Criminal Justice Act which provides the media with a direct appeal route to the Court of Appeal Criminal division against reporting bans and secret hearings. Professor Crook received a Campaign for Freedom of Information Award in recognition of the achievement in improving the rights of journalists and news publishers in 1988. He presented two significant appeals against courtroom secrecy at the Appeal Court during the 1990s and is currently advocating several Freedom of Information cases on Article 10 grounds in the First Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal Information rights system. He founded media law and ethics teaching at Goldsmiths, University of London and has been lecturing and seminar leading there for 31 years. He was a visiting media law instructor to the BBC for over 20 years. He also campaigned and lobbied for the inauguration of a law department at Goldsmiths. In 2019 he received a special award from the Broadcast Journalist Training Council for services to Journalism and Journalism training. Follow on Twitter @ciojournalist& @libertarianspir

2 Author
4 Key Principles on a Page: Avoiding the six media law sins
5 Brief tabulated overview of legal system of England and Wales
6 Basic information about the legal system
8 Introduction to main themes of media law: SPECTACULAR
Professional moral values and ethics
21 BBC Values
21 Respecting the rule of law
22 Impartiality
26 Professional skills to a high standard
Primary Media Law in detail
27 Open Justice
60 Contempt
66 Reporting court cases
70 Reporting Restrictions and the problems in challenging them or breaching them
79 Defamation also usually known as libel
82 Libel defences
87 Malicious Falsehood
88 Privacy
95 Case History Discussion: Sir Cliff Richard v BBC
110 Background to privacy law development
116 Making editorial privacy decisions in relation to images
120 Data Protection Acts and EU General Data Protection Regulation
124 Copyright/Intellectual Property
Additional briefings
131 Reporting Courts-Martial
134 Reporting Inquests
138 Questions to ask yourself in relation to your reporting
142 Analysis of Ethics and Law- case history from the past
Secondary Media Law- regulation by statutory and industry bodies
145 Introduction to regulation as secondary media law
146 Ofcom Regulation and the BBC
148 The Ofcom Broadcasting Code
154 Accuracy, Opportunity to reply, Due Impartiality
162 Sources
164 Important UK existing media law relating to journalists’ sources
166 Case History Discussion: Robert Norman v United Kingdom
176 Case History Discussion. The Snoopers’ Charter.
184 Privacy
185 Harassment and Intrusion into grief or shock
187 Professional Values
190 Reporting children and ‘children in sex cases’
195 Hospitals
196 Reporting of Crime
199 Clandestine devices and subterfuge
201 Victims of Sexual Assault
201 Discrimination
202 Financial Journalism
203 The Public Interest
206 Harm and Offence
Short Summaries
208 UK Contempt and Reporting Crime
209 Guide to Court Reporting Key facts and Checklist
210 Libel, Privacy, Accuracy and Balance
211 News Gathering, Story Finding and Public Interest
212 Protecting Children
212 Copyright and Intellectual Property
213 Laws and Rules for Elections and Politics
214 The Secret World
215 Scottish and Northern Ireland differences and issues
216 Social Media/Online/Blogging- Risks in media law
Additional resources
218 US Society Professional Association of Journalists’ Code of Ethics
220 US Radio, Television, Digital News Association Code of Ethic
223 Guidance on using the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000
226 Media Law and Racial Justice
238 Comparative Media Law- Why is US Media Law so different?