The leveson Enquiry

Introduction

The Leveson enquiry is a recent public enquiry made to regulate the press. It was introduced due to the 'News Of The world' phone hacking scandal. This scandal raised ethical concerns and 'The News Of The World' due to the repercussions of the incident the newspaper was shut down. In this blog post I will be explaining each of the victims which have been effected as a result of the phone hacking scandal.

Ann Diamond

Ann Diamond is a British radio presenter,t.v presenter and newspaper journalist. She has been has been a victim of many incidents involving the newspapers. She has stated that the media dug up information on here that her family and close friends didn't even know. These were things such as information regarding her mortgage which only Ann Diamond knew. 

As well as this the media have attacked her in various other ways such as the headline in 1981 'Anne Diamond killed my father'. This was published shortly after a fatal car crash she was involved in were the media accused her of being responsible. Although, the most famous scandal between the media and Ann Diamond was the one regarding her pregnancy. When she fell pregnant Ann Diamond wanted to be out of the public eye due to her previous problems with the newspaper. However, at the hospital the doctor with her whilst her birth was actual a journalist impersonating as a doctor. This was so that the so called 'Doctor' could ask her questions for the press during her giving birth. After this her baby son Sebastian died. Once again she didn't want the press involved in her sons funeral. Regardless of this, a freelance photographer appeared at the funeral and photos of the funeral were on the front page the following day. Due to the issues she had with the press she publicised the distress the press put her through by the use of newspapers and documentaries  As a result of the Rupert Murdoch set out a personal vendetta against Ann Diamond. This meant that she was continued to be targeted by the media. She was involved in the leveson enquiry and gave statements against the press.

Heather Mills

Heather mills is a model who was also a victim of this scandal. A journalist mentioned a voice-mail left by her ex-husband Paul McCartney in a tabloid. After being challenged about this the press argued that Mills showed them the voice mail. However this was not the case and it turned out that heather mills  had been hacked by the press. Heather Mills stated that she hadn't shown the voice mails to anyone therefore it was clear what had happened.

Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller was an actor involved in a similar case surrounding the phone hacking scandal. Notes written by a news of the world journalist were found. These notes included personal information about the celebrity  Personal information such as contact number, location and pin number. This was also required through phone hacking. However unlike most of the victims she received compensation. Sienna Miller received £100,000 in damages and a written apology from the newspaper.

Ryan Giggs

Welsh footballer Ryan Giggs was another victim of this scandal. He decided to sue News Of The World on allegations of his phone being hacked. This came about after his previous dispute with the media. This was were the newspaper published information about an affair that he was having with his sister in law. Due to this, he took legal action and ordered a super-injunction. This meant that he could not be reported about in any article. However upon other victims appealing he decided to sue news of the world for alleged phone hacking. He was also given compensation for the incident.

Kate and Jerry McCann

After Kate and Jerry McCann's daughter went missing in 2007, there were many attempts to hack there phone. This was also proven to be done by News Of The World. Due to who the two parents were the case was taken very seriously. In the end the couple won damaged of over £400,000.

Milly Dowlers parents

Milly Dowler was abducted in 2002 and presumed dead. Shortly after this the parents of Milly Dowler released that her voice mail box was empty. Journalist's from news of the world had hacked her phone and deleted voice messages to make room for more. Due to the fact that the voice-mails had been deleted the parent assumed there was a chance she was still alive. However they discovered this was actually down to News Of The World tampering with her phone. The family went to a solicitor and got offered £2 million in damages.

Hugh Grant

British actor Hugh Grant was another victim of the phone hacking scandal. After News Of The World illegally tampered with his voice mail he took action. He did this by starting the group 'Hacked Of'. This was the group opposing 'The free speech network'. The free speech network is a group against the regulation of the press. Both groups played a massive part in the leveson enquiry.

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church's phone was also hacked by the same newspaper. News Of The World's private investigator had her number and the number's of many of her agents in his notes. She appealed about this a gained £600,000 in damages.

The Enquiry

All of these celebrities (amongst 46 other public figures  appealed during the Leveson Enquiry. This is because they were key people in the enquiry and had to give evidence against the press. The purpose of the enquiry was to try and regulate the press. The concept of regulation came about due to the phone hacking scandal. This is because it began raising questions as to how the press operated. Although, no legal changes were made Lord Leveson did make some reccomendations for the future. He reccomended that the press remain self regulated. This means that the government have no say in what the press publish. However,  he feels that the self regulation should be reworked. This is to try and prevent another incident such as the phone hacking scandal

Ethical issues in media

Introduction

Ethical issues within the media are much harder to judge than legal constraints  This is because there is no specific guidelines as to what is and isn't acceptable in the spectrum of ethical constraints. In this post I will be explaining what ethical issues are and include some examples of productions which have raised ethical concern.

Ethical issues

Rather than legal constraints, ethical issues are based on judgement. They are what society deem as what is marally acceptable. If something is seen as ethically wrong than it is investigated to see if it is breaking any laws such as 'the obscene publications act'. However, if it is not in violation of any of these law than is comes under ethical issues. Tis means that no law has been broken however the public may see is as offensive or controversial. Many ethical concerns are raised by groups of specific people. These groups may find the publication offensive, due to how the minority are represented. Ethical concerns which come into to media production are things such as;

• Protecting under 18's
• Representation of age,Gender,race, disability and religion
• Using off the record information
• The power to influence public opinion
• Interviewing vulnerable people or children
• Intruding on individuals privacy
• Anything that could cause offence or harm

As a producer you would need to be aware of ethical concerns. Although there are no specific guidelines you would still need to be conscious that some material may offend. If you create material that would offend such as a comedy show mocking a minority, you may lose viewing figures. This is because people in the minority being mocked may refuse to watch or read you publications due to it being offensive. This means you must check your material before publishing it so that you are sure it will not offend.

Examples

An example of something within the media which has raised ethical concerns would be the BBC incident 'Sachs Gate'. As I stated in a previous post, this was involving radio presenter's Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. In short, they called beloved actor Andrew Sachs and verbally abused him. Upon the release of the show two people complained. This caused a domino effect in which eventually resulted in about 38,000 complaints. Although, they didn't break any laws they raised many ethical concerns. This was based on peoples own morale judgement  Mainly, due to the fact it was seen as unnecessary due to the age of the actor. It caused such a stir that the BBC had to take action against this to please the public. As a result of the event both radio presenter got suspended without pay. Many other concerns were raised by this incident. This is because the show was pre-recorded. This means it would have had to go through BBC producer's first. Due to this there is a lot of argument other whose fault it was.

Another example would be a similar incident involving comedian Frankie Boyle. On a show he was featuring in named 'Mock of the week' he made an offensive joke. This joke was made to insult Olympic winner Rebecca Adlington. He stated " The thing nobody really said about Rebecca Adlington is that she looks pretty weird. She looks like someone who's looking at themselves in the back of a spoon". Due to this unnecessary insult it sparked much controversy against the comedian. As a result he was banned from the show 'Mock of the week'

Legal constraints in media

Introduction

In this post i will be explaining all of the laws which need to be watched out for when creating a media product. I will also be  discussing the purpose of them and why they are so important.


The broadcasting act

The broadcasting act was introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the year 1990. The purpose of it was to deregulate television and radio broadcasters. This is because most of the channels on television and radio were run by the BBC. This brought the new channel 'channel 5'. The motives of this act were to encourage more independent production company's rather than companies such as BBC and ITV dominating the t.v market. As a result of the BBC was forced to include at least 25 % of its broadcasts from independent production companies. Another impact was that three independent radio stations were allowed to be formed. The two companies which now regulate broadcasting are 'the independent television committee  and 'Radio authority'. As a producer this means I would have the right to create an independent broadcaster in television or radio. However, I would also need to be aware of the two governing bodies and there regulations. This is because they regulate what is deem appropriate or inappropriate for broadcasting. An example of this law being breached would be an incident with 'XFM'. The radio authority placed a £50,000 fine on the radio station. This was because the show included offensive language and many obscene references. Another example would be a similar incident with 'Hallam FM'. They were also fined £50,000 for obscene broadcasting. This was due to the fact they included call-ins involving references to child abuse.

Copyright

The copyright, Designs and patents act 1988, is the current UK copyright law. It gives the creators of dramatic,musical and artistic works the rights to control the ways in which there material may be used. An example copyright laws in action would be SOPA (Stop Piracy Act). Sopa is a law that recently got passed against piracy on the internet. The file sharing website mega upload got shut down due to accusation's for breaching copyright. The owners of the site were charged $500 million. Another example would be the apple vs. Samsung lawsuit  During this Apple took Samsung to court over allegation of stealing the idea of the 'Ipad'. However they lost the case as the judge stated that 'Very few people would confuse an ipad for a samsung tablet'. If I was working in the media industry I would have to be careful about breaching the copyright law. For instance if I was creating some sort of short film which needed a soundtrack I would need permission to use this. This is because the artists work would most probably be copyright meaning I would need to contact the record company. However, to save money it would be more cost effective to use royalty-free music.

Official Secrets Act

The official secrets act which was put into place in 1911 is to protect fragile government information. Its purpose is to protect the public as they feel that release of secret information could damage national security. An example of this law being breached would be the news of the world's phone hacking scandal. This was back in 2006 when the journalist's of the newspaper hacked over 4000 phones. This was breaching the official secrets act due to the fact that they hacked mp's phones. This sparked so much controversy that the news of the world was completely shut down. Another example would be the conviction of Sarah Tisdall. She was sentenced to six months in prison after leaking controversial information to the guardian newspaper. She gave details as to when an american missile would be arriving in Britain  Due to this she was found guilty of breaking the law and convicted. If I was working within the media industry I would have to careful of this law. For example if for instance I was working for a newspaper and somebody disclosed some secret information. If this information was confidential I could not release it as it has the potential to damage the public.

Libel and slander 

Libel is the defamation of ones character through written word. Not to be confused with slander which is the same principle however spoken rather than written. Many sectors of the media industry have to be cautious of this law especially publishing. For instance newspapers have to be careful when reporting an article about somebody. If they produce an inaccurate portrayal of the individuals character then they are breaking the libel law and can be prosecuted. This can also come into play when somebody negatively portrays a company or business. For example if somebody wrote something on a blog negatively about a company that technically isn't accurate they can be accused of breaching libel law. An example of libel or slander law being broken would be the incident between Jonathan Ross, Russell Howard and Andrew Sachs. The incident known as 'Sachs Gate' was a controversial BBC radio Broadcast. During their radio show Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross called beloved actor Andrew Sachs. Many abusive messages were left and this was aired. Not only was this saw as obscene but it was also slander. Due to the defamation of Andrew Sachs's character. As a result of this Russell Brand lost his job and Jonathan Ross was suspended without pay. This incident sparked much controversy due to the fact it was unnecessary and the BBC let them air it. Another example would be the Lord McAlpine scandal. This was were journalists from various newspapers accused him of paedophilia. These accusations were found to be untrue. Lord McAlpine was outraged by these claims by the media. He stated it was 'poor journalism' and sued BBC for breaching Libel law.

Privacy Law

The privacy law gives people the right to not have information on there personal lives publish. This could include pieces of information such as there name, address or family life. Many sectors in the media industry have to be careful of this law during production. For instance any media production which include administration such as call sheets need to be especially. This is because call sheets usually contain peoples personal details. They would normally include the name of each crew member and there contact details. If this information wasn't to remain confidential and got out the production company would be breaching privacy law. This is due to the fact that if this information got out it could be potentially harmful to them. Another sector which has to be aware of this law is publishing. If a newspaper releases any personal information about someone such as contact details this would also be breaching the law.

 The press have been under a lot of controversy lately due to many phone hacking scandals which has brought about the leveson enquiry. This is an attempt to regulate the press and strengthen privacy laws. This phone hacking scandal would be a perfect example of were privacy laws have been breached. It was were journalists from 'News of the world' were hacking peoples phones for stories. This was breaching privacy laws due to the fact the newspaper was hacking into peole mobile phones without permission  This also raised ethical concerns due to the people they were doing it to such as 'Milly Dowler'. Another example of this law being breached would be an extreme case involving X Factor judge Simon Cowell. This incident also involved the newspapers in which a tracking device was allegedly found on his Rolls Royce. Simon Cowell threatened to prosecute the press due to the fact that tracking devices are illegal. This is because it breaks privacy law's. The journalist also intended on publishing an article about his article which would also be breaching the law.

Human Rights Act

The basis of the human rights act is to strengthen the already in place conventions of basic human rights. This means that people can be prosecuted to more of an extent for breaching any of these human rights. There is a vast array of human rights. These are based on ethics such as quality of life and equality. Due to the sheer size of this spectrum which the human rights come into producers must be aware of the ins and outs of it.  This is because if you 

break someone's humans rights, you risk getting prosecuted under the human rights act. For instance if you were auditioning actors for a short film you would have to abide it. This is because if you don't hire someone solely because of their sex,race,colour,religion etc. Then you are breaching article 14. Article 14 is a part of the human rights convention which goes against discrimination. Due to this if you don't abide by the convention you risk being prosecuted under the 'Human Rights act'. Discrimination is only a small part of the convention therefore as a producer you must be aware of all of the rules (There is a lot). An example of this law being broken in media would be the 'Mosley vs. News Group newspapers' case. This was were Max Mosley had an article posted about him in 'News Of The World'. This article revealed an incident in his personal life involving five prostitutes. An article was published about this as well as a video of the incident. Mosley challenged 'News Of The World' under article 8 of the human rights convention. This ensure that people can keep there private life confidential if the wish to. Unlike the 'privacy law' this covers such as family life and peoples sex life. Due to this he won the case and was given £60,000 in damages. He also asked for the video to be removed from the internet and banned however this was not possible due to how wide spread it had became.

Another example of this law being broken would be the case surrounding the murder of James Bulger. Upon his murderers being released they were given new homes and new identities. Many newspapers within the media published these details. 'This could also come under 'the privacy act' however like the Max Molsey case it cam under 'Article 8' of the human rights convention. This meant that under the 'Human rights act' an injunction. This meant that they had to remove all information about the killers and refrain from realising any more in later publications. This is because this information could have been potentially harmful to them. This is due to the fact that they are murderers and people may have tried to find them due to the severity of the case.

Race relations act

Race relations is a simple law based around ethnic equality. This act makes it illegal to refuse someone from there rights based on race,colour or ethnic origin  It is in place to make sure that everyone is treated equally regardless of there race. As a producer you would need to be aware of this as you would most probably be working with a range of people from different races. For instance of you were working on a television show and you treat someone differently due to there colour you could risk breaching this law. This is because if you are treating them differently to the rest of the crew then this could be conceived that it is because of there race. You could also be prosecuted if you racially abused this person. Another example would be if you were creating a radio show. Say for example you were interviewing somebody who was of a certain ethnic background. If you verbally attack this person based on this ethnic background you will again be breaking this law. Therefore you would need to be aware of this act so that you know to treat everybody equally. 

Obscene publications act

The obscene publications act is a law brought in to refrain the publishing of obscene material to the public. For something to be classed as obscene it needs to be taken to court and evaluated based on the severity. These could be aspects such as extreme violence, pornography, controversy, etc. The first ever incident of this was the writer William Dugdale. His books were saw as pornographic and as a result he was prosecuted. A producer would need to be aware of this act in order not to offend the public. This is because what some may see as obscene others may not. This is why there is now strict guidelines as to what is classed as obscene. As a producer you would need to know these guidelines to refrain from making anything to obscene. The purpose of this act is to protect the general public from potentially 'harmful' publications. An example of an incident involving this law being broken would be the film 'Crash'. After being published many critics argued it was obscene and potentially harmful. This was because they felt it 'incited' car crashes and was offensive to people with disability's. This was investigated and the producers were not prosecuted. This meant that the film didn't get banned and was allowed to continue to be published. Another example in the media would be another film called the 'Human centipede 2'. This was a sequel to the first human centipede which stirred an awful lot of controversy. The sequel was seen as even more gruesome and 'revolting' due to this the film was banned in the UK and Australia  This was because some scenes were so obscene and violent that it was not seen fit for the public to watch. However, after making 32 compulsory cuts the film was allowed to be published in the UK.  Although, it still had to be given an 18 year old age rating.