Valerie Nazareth-Law essentials that need to be learnt

In this weeks lecture we watched a video which was of Valerie Nazareth, the head of the BBC's legal advice department, who explained what is is that young journalists are required to know about media law when applying for a job at the BBC standard.

She explained that it is vital for all candidates to understand what the terms:Defamation, Privacy(Section 8 Human Rights Act) and Contempt of Court (when a case is active you need to ensure that you know whether you're being prejudice or not) means. A good example of this is the Chris Jefferies case. The Sun and the Daily Mirror were fined for committing contempt of court against Chris Jefferies during the Joanna Yates case in July earlier this year. An article in the Guardian explains this case further: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/29/sun-daily-mirror-guilty-contempt

Therefore, while a a trial is running you cannot publish or broadcast anything specific about the case that could risk influencing the jury's decision and therefore making it an unfair trial.

With Qualified Privilege, however, you are allowed to produce a TV clip based on the trial that is small and compact with facts. Once the verdict has been announced you are free to publish with comment etc.

Valerie also put emphasis on the importance of consent when collecting footage to be broadcast. For example:

• Explicit Consent- Must sign a release form.
• Implied Consent-It is made obvious that your are on television, E.g talk to the camera.

The way to avoid Copyright is to use your own work as far as possible and state where you got a quote or some information from if it is not your own work. Permission is compulsory.