You Can't Say That (Allegedly)!

Book Review:

It's long puzzled me why knowing the basics of media law is considered important for radio journalists but rarely, if ever, for radio presenters. This is especially true as some of the worst on-air cases of breaking the law have come from music presenters and not journalists.

In November 2003 the breakfast presenters on Beacon FM Shropshire were taken off-air, and subsequently left the station, after they made prejudicial comments about the Soham murder case whilst it was still taking place. The pair were reading out listeners’ comments asking whether Ian Huntley's evidence could be believed, with one of the presenters saying "It's almost like the most unbelievably made-up story in the world ever, really, isn't it?". It was not until a year later the Attorney General decided that no action would be taken against the presenters or the station.

A few years earlier a couple of presenters on Rock FM in Preston narrowly escaped a prison sentence for contempt of court as a result of comments made on-air during the trial of Harold Shipman. It was only because the trial judge said he had been “sufficiently impressed by the contrition and response” of Rock FM’s management, that stopped him from referring the matter to the Attorney General for possible prosecution.

Other judges in the future might not be quite so lenient, or magnanimous.

Considering the penalties for getting it wrong can be quite severe it’s surprising, and perhaps worrying, just how few stations seem to ensure that all of their on-air staff, and not just the news team, have a basic understanding of what is, and isn’t, permissible under the law.

One of the standard reference books for many years has been McNae’s Essential Law For Journalists but, while an excellent resource, can often be intimidating for some people.

Now Hang The DJ? - The Radio Presenter's Guide To The Law, by Paul Chantler and Paul Hollins, aims to provide an easily-digestible guide to the basics of media law. Its purpose is not to turn presenters into ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’, but to provide them with, at least, a sufficient understanding of the basics to ensure that they hear ‘alarm bells’ ringing at the appropriate times.

This book (available in paperback, PDF/e-book and Kindle versions) manages to guide its readers along the twisted pathways of defamation and contempt of court without resorting to too much legalese.  It also provides many real-life examples of where broadcasters have fallen foul of the law. In one case an online community station was forced to close after losing a libel case brought by a well-known MP at the time because of a damages settlement in five-figures.

One unfortunate outcome of a lack of training is that some presenters end up labouring under some serious misapprehensions regarding broadcast law.

For example, despite what you may have been led to believe by ‘Have I Got News For You?’, the word “allegedly” is not a defence against a possible libel action; if anything it just digs you even deeper into the hole in which you’ve dug yourself. In libel cases, the burden of proof is on the defendant, so by using “allegedly”, you are, in effect, admitting you are not totally sure of the facts, and, therefore, have no adequate defence.

It’s also worth remembering that HIGNFY has a BBC lawyer present in the studio during recording, as well as in the edit suite afterwards to ensure legal compliance in the final programme. Even then they don't always get it right!

This book is a 'must-read' for anybody in broadcasting who cares about getting it right; especially when getting it wrong could land you in court.

Talking of which, I'm just sorting out a piece for tomorrow's programme when we'll be going "behind the scenes" at the big trial taking place at the local Crown Court. One of the jurors is a good mate of mine, so I’ll be asking him if he agrees that John Doe is going to be found guilty. I'm convinced he will as he's got a record as long as your arm; in fact I’m surprised it's not been mentioned in court.

Oh, wait. I think we might have a problem with this!

(Disclosure: I have known both of the authors for several years, but purchased my own copy of this book instead of receiving a free review copy).