Defamation Problem In Journalism And Remedies.

It is widely assumed defamation influence the news environment and it have involved in some
publication life. In consequence, it is really necessary to improve the law in order to solve the defamation problem. Surprisingly, English law provide more opportunity for public to against untrue statements that could influence their reputation. This is the important reason why defamation as a significant part in law for journalism. As we all know that the general meaning of defamation is using untrue statement and creating wrong information to frame people up, and influencing people reputation in the end. According to this serious issue in news environment, defamation is said to be an important knowledge that people need to know ,in case of involving in defamation situation.

There have two forms of defamation: libel and slander, and defamatory statement happen in several ways here: printed; broadcast on television or radio;  films programme and video; Online media; public performance of a play. It obviously that defamation is
nearly to our life.  For instance , if you heard some famous people’s secret story in some publication such as tabloid or any other online resource etc. The secret news story about the famous people is
quite possible to be a wrong information.(Singer Victoria Beckham met damages from Star magazine in 2007.In other words, journalist have potential opportunity to
defame someone after the finish interview. In modern society, the news industry has threatened by defamation, online media , TV programme publications sometimes provide a space for journalist to
damage someone when reader or audience do not know the truth . Journalist publish a statement which include wrong information or not accurate content about public unless it is not defamatory. This rule is enough equal between public and journalist in news industry.

In some defamation case ,claimant ‘s barrister could find some defamatory sentences  in untrue statement on publication from defendant.( a journalist who damage someone ‘s reputation) Obviously, these defamatory sentences called slander.
Meanwhile, journalist always being cautious on their words in report, because there really have potential dangerous to let them jailed when they sued by defamation case, so that journalist have responsibility for their report, it is an important issue for them is to know how to avoid libel or slandermistake. . For example journalist need check for their information after they finish interview note taking, it is an important process to avoid them involve in defamation case.

Apart from this, as we have known, the most useful for libel is damage and injunction.  Damage is said to be an economic way to solve defamation case. In verdict, judge will decide the result of damages after evidence given. On the other hand, injunction have ability to prevent defamation event happen. It have  more obvious effect in China, because in China, the press is always controlled by government, so that it is easier to manage news environment in China, in UK, the situation is quite different , because British news industry is self-regulated rather than controlled by government or any other politician.



 

 

Is The Role Of A Journalist Changing In Our Society And Why?

In the Uk, we find ourselves in a media and press environment in which is self-regulated, unlikecountries like China that have specific rules that underpin their press regulation. It is thought amongst our media that a liberal democracy is how we should operate.

The competitive paradigm looks at pluralist (liberal democracy) media as ‘a public sphere’. Jurgen Habermas came up with this idea of having a space accessible to everybody in which decisions can be made.

The media is referred to as a 'Fourth Estate'. This is the idea that the press and other publishers act as a type of ‘watchdog’. Edmund Burke argued that established social classes would abuse their power and as result the ‘fourth estate’ was created.

Having heard the points of Habermas and Burke, the media slowly began to have a more influential role in the media as there was no manipulation from society. This continues to be achieved through private ownership which comes with no state ownership and as a result no influence from our government.

There are a number of factors that influence a news organisation. These consist of political, economic, cultural and technological. All these elements help shape what impacts Jounalism and all news organisations. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were vital ingredients in shaping what we know as the media industry today.  They achieved this through encouraging private enterprise and also helping the market regulate itself.

Having said all this, Mcnair argues that liberal democracies are sometimes forced to support government. He uses example such as newspapers supporting the gulf war and the second world war.

Technology has been of high speed growth in recent years and suddenly everybody finds their way to impact what is available for public eye. People no longer want to know what happened yesterday, but more that they want to know what is happening now. This is achieved through the intervention of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc). Without the history of media and the journalism industry, our current view on the world of press and media might look a lot differently.

An uploaded picture or a football goal can now be seen within seconds of occurrence. With this technological shift comes expectation and demand for more and faster, resulting in yesterdays news no longer being sufficient in todays’ world. This coincides with busier working lives and longer shift patterns, resulting in a ‘non stop’ environment for the media. I conclude with suggesting that the world of press, as a result of being shaped by past events ,people and technological factors, has resulted in a non stop media environment, and the role of a journalist has become more important and demanding as ever.

 

 

Do We Need A Free Press? Is the answer just yes/no or is there something more to it?

A free press is vital, for the maintenance of a liberal democracy. It provides citizens, with the information and variety of opinion necessary for them to debate political issues openly and make their government accountable. Whereas, restrictions on media often indicate us about the government assaulting other democratic institutions.

 

According to Freedom house’s freedom of the press index, only 14% of the world’s citizens live in countries that enjoy a free press. In the rest of the world, governments as well as non-state actors control the viewpoints that reach citizens and brutally repress independent voices, who aim to promote accountability, good governance and economic development.

For instance, if we look at India, the freedom of the press is in danger because of the ownership of the newspaper industry and the predominance of some newspaper groups and chains. It is also suggested that the editors and journalists cannot have adequate freedom of collecting, disseminating and offering comments as they are under the pressure of the capitalist owners. This process of collecting and disseminating facts is not possible in the case of the newspapers, which depend to a large extent on revenge from advertisements (as the advertising interests cannot but influence the presentation of news and comments). Unless, this whole structure of ownership and control in the newspaper industry of press is changed, it is therefore suggested that the press cannot be really free.

I think , free press is necessary but till it remains in it's ethical boundaries!

Ian Hughes, truly said "The media are accused and blamed or praised and hailed, sometimes in almost the same breath, for their influence on the outcome of the democratic process. However, experience shows that when media becomes a mouthpiece for one particular political party or any personality related stories, they tend to be poorly researched or not factual. Opinion can be twisted to suit political-party paymasters: then their force for good distorts rather than reports, hides rather than reveals. Editors can and should have personal and professional opinions but factual reporting and political opinions must be clearly distinct."

Well, not only politically but media does misuse their freedom in general. In the past their have some cases like the phone hacking scandal and bribery of the police, in which its shown how a journalist has exploited his power by hacking 4,000 people’s phones. These are people from the parliament, royal families and teenage victims from the 9/11 case. Not only this, but the police was also bribed for 100,000 pounds for hacking and spying scandal.

In these circumstances journalists individually and collectively should shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the reputation of their profession. Journalists should often ask these questions to themselves- Are we fair? Are we thoughtful?

Social Media Influencing Journalism

This is the era of social media; where the journalists have been affected by new technologies, which has got a huge impact towards the working and practice of journalism. Journalism, which plays an indispensable role in notifying the people of the nation, who are a pillar of public life and pluralistic, democratic societies. They are a source where the general public rely on them for the facts and quality information.

The past working of journalism was usually practiced without the involvement of the public and their point of view. Over the years, there have been different factors, which have come up leading for a huge impact on journalism. But “Social Media” is one of the factors which has been significantly influencing the working of journalism. Social Media or in other words new Internet technologies has changed the business of journalism, where the journalists are no more the gatekeeper’s but sharing the news in the public where social media is playing a big role; for example:

•  Blurred the difference between opinion and fact
• Anyone can be a journalist; citizen journalism

These are few ways through which the social media has replaced traditional journalism. Now a day’s this topic has been taken into account by the organizations like, The Guardian just published an article on, “How social networking is changing journalism”, even the Oxford Social Media Convention focused the impact of social media's impact towards the working of journalism. 

With the drastic use of social media it has got a detailed look on how the public relations and the journalists communicate.  To get maximum reach towards the depth of the happenings around, journalists must engage with the different forms of social networking sites.  

• One of the biggest news that broke via social media, “ The 1^st person to tweet about Osama bin Laden raid was a neighbor who, while complaining about the noise next door on Twitter, unknowingly tweeted about one of the "biggest news" stories of the decade. 

On the other hand, online news sources aren’t always reliable or 100% fact.

Social media being a source of spreading the news with speed doesn’t mean the data it carries is truly factual.  

Old or past information is circulated on social sites which causes an environment of unnecessary fear in society.   

At times the people who post on the social networking sites become the source for the reporters.

Though,“Reading news online” is an increasingly important Internet activity. In some OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, more than half of the population read newspapers online.

• Political Parties in India especially BJP used social media during the Loksabha elections in a big way. This can be useful for few but harmful for many. With such an effective tool one can malign any one within minutes. Hence needs to be handled properly. Looking at these changes, Election Commission had made it mandatory to fill details of Social Media Accounts in recently conducted Maharashtra polls.

“Social media was an add-on originally,
 a little something extra you used to do,
 now its intrinsic to everyday life, its completely woven into the newsroom."

Can Young Voters Trust Who They Vote For?

Now more than ever the young vote counts, as was proved in the 2010 election where the Liberal Democrats received a major increase in their usual amount of seats.

My question is can young voters make an informed accurate decision on who they’re voting for this upcoming summer? I think not, unless you want to spend time to really dig deep into the parties. For the casual voter who has little interest in politics in day to day life, they will have a couple of ways to base their decision. One will be in the live debates shown across different TV platforms. Another will be from all the speculation in newspapers about promises and policies in the upcoming months.

There is one problem with the latter option, all these papers have political allegiance. Due to papers allegiances with parties it makes it hard for a casual voter to make the decision. With the Sun tearing apart Labours new policy while the Guardian pokes at Cameron’s latest gaffe’s, who is he meant to trust? And why are they to trust these media moguls? With phone hacking and libel claims being settled weekly they print media is hardly giving a good account for itself and is creating an unstable environment for democratic politics to be in. It creates an idea of us and them rather than informing the voter of the straight up facts of each party allowing them to make an informed decision. 

The television debates don’t offer much more than the papers. They’re set up in a way that by the end you only know which politician is the best orator. When you should be finding out which is the best leader for you, this is not helpful. Nick Clegg proved in last election debates that he was a brilliant talker, especially about policies.

But what Nick Clegg proved a year later was that he was only a good talker, and not much more. The whole of Nick Clegg’s election campaign was based around the fact the Lib Dems would not let University fees increase. Which made like a vote for Lib Dem seem like a wasted vote for the younger votes come one year later when University fees had been upped to £9,000.

Ultimately, the fact our views on TV and money for the papers is more important to the media than how we vote. Unfortunately this leaves young voters in a poor position. They are ill informed and left with no real idea on who will help them. 

On that day in May when we all decide who shall keep the country ticking for the next five years, there will be a shock. A shock that the turnout is low, especially amongst younger voters. Young people are disillusioned with politics, we don’t want to hear from Labour why the Tories can’t handle the debt. we don’t want to hear from the Tories why Labour put us in this much debt.  We don't want to know what we can do for you, rather what you can do for us.

The Role Of The Media: A Cause For Concern

It’s often suggested that the media is a mechanism used as an independent, self-regulating body, monitoring and questioning the concentrated power to ensure that it is not abused or violated. The circulation of the term, ‘fourth estate’ is accredited to Edmund Burke during the late 17th century and it referred to the estate which had not been formally recognised (the media) amongst the three other three within parliament [1].  However, in recent years the media has been criticised for the ‘function’ it currently serves in society, as many argue that some media organisations are becoming huge institutes violating their self-assigned power.

Burke argued that ‘established social classes’ had the opportunity to infringe the power they had in society and that, essentially, an independent media source prevents this. However, in recent years there have been many examples of ‘independent’ media sources becoming institutes that own many media outlets, fundamentally having more platforms to convey their ideology or ‘voice’. This potentially disrupts the notion of independent media, therefore if the media organisation is that influential it can potentially determine the outcome of a general election.  In 1992 is exactly what allegedly happened (‘The Sun’ was credited with helping John Major win the general election).

‘The Sun’ (which has an average of 13.4 million readers a week in the UK), amongst many British news outlets such as ‘News of the World’, ‘The Times’ and ‘Sky’ was an asset of ‘News Corporation’ owned by one individual- Rupert Murdoch [2]. Questions could potentially be asked of whether Rupert Murdoch owning ‘News Corporation’, which was the second largest multinational mass media in the world, is any less influential on society than in fact being in parliament. The well-known close alliance between Murdoch and Thatcher during the 1980’s completely undermines Burke’s theory that “it was necessary for certain ‘independent’ voices to take on the task of watching over them. The task was given to the media”.

It seems that the media is becoming more and more involved in political, cultural and economic manipulation due to other interests that don’t particularly include acting as the ‘fourth state’. The most recent general election seems to be the best example of the media not acting as a ‘watchdog’, since many news outlets supported and wrote positive articles on a particular party simply for financial or influential gain. Therefore, in recent years figures suggest the public have grown tired of the expensive and mediocre electoral campaigns and have instead become apathetic towards electoral impact, during what was a devastating recession amongst other issues.

[3]

Figures over the last decade have greatly declined, potentially implying that the media cannot keep the public engaged and up to date with politics. With a vested interest, the media seem to be bowing to the capitalist bourgeoisie.  The focus has often shifted from the parliamentary impact a party would have, to the personal issues and background of an individual. 

The media appears to reinforce the inequalities throughout society, by acting in the interests of the organisation rather than the public or industry. With the influence of the media on the public greater than ever,  and the strive for financial gain ever increasing, it could be said that Burke’s utilitarian notion of the media providing public service is currently neglected.

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[1] Edmund Burke - Slide Shows - Francois Nel 

'Lecture 2 Approaches/Paradigms in the study of journalism'

[2] The Sun Figures - Gavriel Hollander (29 August 2013)

 http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-newspapers-ranked-total-readership-print-and-online

[3] UK Political Info - House of Commons (image)

http://www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout45.htm

  

A fourth to be reckoned with? The role of the media in today's society

Back in 1787, philosopher Edmund Burke coined the term ‘The Fourth Estate’, which he used to describe the role the media ought to play in society. According to him, the press should perform a regulatory role by keeping the other three powers (parliament, the state and the judiciary) in line, and prevent them from becoming too dominant. It was also deemed that fluency was needed between them and the public, to aid understanding and co-operation. Almost a quarter of a millennium later, with the media and society having undergone radical changes, do the foundations of this estate still stand strong?

One of the primary roles of the media is to keep the public in touch with those above them - namely the politicians who govern their everyday lives. It is evident that, in order to combat the "growing sense of political disillusionment, apathy and disconnection"[1] that is manifesting itself among today's youth, more transparency is needed at the very top. In 2010, a series of debates were televised in the run-up to the general election. The three leaders - Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg - appeared in front of the general public to tell them how their party intended to deal with various issues, such as the economic crisis and immigration. These debates were a huge success, with the the views peaking at 9.9 million, or 37% of the total TV viewership at the time [2]

This table[3], which charts amount of television watched by various age groups at the time, shows that those in the 12-17 bracket watched more television than any other group bar those who were 50+. As a result, these figures suggest that a large part of the debates' audience was young. This perhaps points to a growing interest in politics, with the media to thank for the publicity these showdowns received in the build-up to their broadcast.

In addition to keeping the people informed on the powers, the media's ability to entertain, educate and inform is unparalleled. Now, more than ever, we are reliant on the media in order to learn and thrive - with the development of the internet, it has become an integral part of our daily lives. The media is a force to be reckoned with and, as such, it must be handled with care and responsibility. IPSO, a regulatory organisation established in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, aims to do this - with the Guardian and Independent refusing to sign up, though, it remains to be seen how effective it will be.

The journalist Anand Shukla remarked that "a democracy without media is like a vehicle without wheels"[4]. Indeed, a strong and independent media is pivotal to the functioning of day-to-day life. Without it, we would be left in the dark, with the powers that be free to run amok and renege on any and all promises as they see fit. The role of the media in today's society must not be underestimated, for it will surely shape the society of tomorrow.

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[1] Ashgate - A Disconnected Generation?https://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Young_Citizens_Intro.pdf
[2] Guardian, 2010 TV debate viewing figures
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/apr/16/leaders-debate-tv-ratings
[3]Marketing Charts, TV viewership data 
http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/more-viewers-watch-timeshifted-tv-15093/
[4]International Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Anand Narain Shukla
http://www.academia.edu/4243668/MEDIA_AND_SOCIAL_AWARENESS