Part 12 - Other Ethical (Including Regulatory) Considerations Flashcards
What does Clause 3 of the Editors’ Code of Practice state?
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on property when asked to leave and must not follow them. If requested, they must identify themselves and whom they represent.
iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.
Outline the practice of ‘doorstepping’ and what the Ofcom Code says about it.
Doorstepping is the filming or recording of an interview or attempted interview with someone, or announcing that a call is being filmed or recorded for broadcast purposes, without any prior warning. It does not, however, include vox-pops (sampling the views of random members of the public).
8.11: Doorstepping for factual programmes should not take place unless a request for an interview has been refused or it has not been possible to request an interview, or there is good reason to believe that an investigation will be frustrated if the subject is approached openly, and it is warranted to doorstep. However, normally broadcasters may, without prior warning interview, film or record people in the news when in public places.
What does Clause 10 of the Editors’ Code of Practice state?
Clandestine devices and subterfuge.
i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held information without consent.
ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.
In the event of a complaint due to covert photography, covert filming or covert audio-recording, or deception, subterfuge or misrepresentation, what will the relevant regulator expect to be shown and why?
They will expect to be shown that there was prima facie evidence of wrongdoing, or of another circumstance covered by public interest definitions, needing investigation by such covert method, because the editor/media organisation must be able to fully demonstrate to the regulator that there was a reasonable belief, before the method was used, that a public interest exception applied. The regulator will also expect to see an ‘audit trail’ of documentation to justify that belief and recording the relevant editorial decisions.
What is a ‘fishing expedition’?
An investigation launched without sufficient prima facie grounds to justify it.
Regarding covert filming or audio-recording, when is the Editors’ Code NOT breached?
Journalists recording calls they personally make or receive (e.g. when openly interviewing) are not deemed to be using a ‘clandestine listening device’, and so do not breach Clause 10, and that Ipso has ruled that recording a face-to-face interview given with consent does not breach Clause 10, and therefore no public interest justification is needed for the act of recording in either of those circumstances even if the person the journalist is speaking to is unaware he/she is being recorded.
What does Clause 5 of the Editors’ Code of Practice state?
When reporting suicide, to prevent simulative acts care should be taken to avoid excessive detail of the method used, while taking into account the media’s right to report legal proceedings.
Outline the guidance from Samaritans regarding the reporting of suicide.
A report of or published reference to a suicide should not:
- in a headline state the suicide method or use the word ‘suicide’ in a headline
- portray any method as quick, easy, painless or certain to result in death
- portray suicide as a solution to the person’s problems
- over-simplify what might have been the cause(s) of the suicide
- specify that a suicide achieved a result
- make or quote statements which suggest the community or other people are honouring, or which romanticise the suicidal behaviour
- use large, prominently placed or repeated pictures of the person who has died
- refer to a place as being a location where suicides frequently take place
- use an image of such a place or use an emotional or dramatic image in this context
- provide details of the location if it is a public place such as a cliff, bridge or railway line
- provide information, such as the height of a bridge or cliff
- include content from suicide notes or similar messages left by a person who has died
Ideally, what should a report on suicide do?
Make the point that suicides are preventable, referring to a source of support such as the Samaritans.
