WINOL Showreel:

Confessional Interview:

‘I thought I’d reached the pinnacle of sport.’

With a childhood that will always push him to reach his goals and work hard for what he wants, Charlie Kelly, 24, has already had two professional sporting careers under his belt. He saw his professional football career rise and fall before his eyes, but bounced back for round two, working harder than ever to move up the ranks from an amateur to professional boxer, while still in his teens.

“I didn’t grow up with my parents; my mum wasn’t thought fit enough to look after me and my sister.  She had mental health problems which meant that we had to leave her. My dad wasn’t around then either, he went to prison when I was really young and  so me and my sister were split up. She went to live in Ireland, with some of our family out there and I was put into care; I don’t remember how old I was or too much about being in foster care, but know I didn’t really understand what was happening. I didn’t stay in one place, I was with a family in Blackpool and another in Oxford, and I was also in two foster homes which were different. I don’t really remember too much about the families or the care homes, but everybody was really nice and just took care of me.”

“On my fourth birthday, I remember going to live with my great aunty, in Tottenham. It was really different living with my aunty, there were quite a few of us living in the household and she was quite old fashioned and quite strict, so it was different to what I was used to before then.

I lived with my three cousins and I was bought up with them. The youngest of the three cousins, I didn’t really get on with that well at first. I think he thought I was stealing his time with his family, which must have been difficult, but now we get on really well.

I didn’t really get all the things I really wanted as a child. It must have been hard for my aunt with three children of her own and me on top. All us kids just got it with it really. When I was younger I just thought ‘one day I’ll get it just not right now.’  Now it makes me appreciate things a lot more, now if I buy a pair of trainers they’ll be a nice pair and the things I buy will nice things ‘cause I know I’ve worked hard for it and I appreciate it.

I enjoyed a lot of sport and worked hard to achieve a lot in my teens. One of my older cousins who I grew up with was a professional footballer; he played for a few teams Southend, Hull, Bradford and a few others I can’t remember. He sort of inspired me to play. Watching him growing up, playing football and me sticking out playing footie games with him and his friends had a lot to do with my career in football. I was picked for a few teams when I was young and eventually I got a professional contract with Dagenham Redbridge and then Stevenage for a little while and eventually I had offers to play over in America and I was there for six months.”

“I played for Ohio State while I was out in the US, I also played a few games for Chicago fire. I was very young, I was 16. It was a great experience and it was like a completely different world out there, but it was scary for me as boy so young. I felt really special and I thought I’d never have to work again, but that didn’t come true. I ripped the tendons around my knee and that meant I was on crutches for six months. And when I came back into play I just wasn’t the same. I just lost the passion a little bit and other sports I could take part in took over and that was the end of football for me really. I was really disappointed when I got my injury because there were players around me, who probably wasn’t as good as me and they were given a great chance. There was nothing I could do about it, it was out of my hands.”

“That was when I became interested, more than ever in boxing. I always boxed, it was always in my family – it’s what my dad did before he went into prison. I was eight when I started and I still box now.

The thing that made me stick it out and work really hard at it was that I could box even with my injuries from football. It took over my passion and dream for professional football and I got better and more confident at it. I went all the way - from amateur level to professional.

My current record stands at 56 out of 63 games, so I’ve only ever lost seven games. I’ve won many titles and things, I was lucky enough to be the national champion as a kid. I was also given the title of London champion. I’m proud of them all it just shows how hard I work.

I even got the chance to box for England for two years, not long after my time in America playing football. There was no better feeling than representing your country, I mean, at that point I thought I’d reached the pinnacle of sport!

I’m still licensed as a professional boxer and now I’m coming to the end of the pro game, but I don’t know if I’m going to continue my boxing career. Work commitments are taking over and I don’t know how I’m going to it everything in. I’m finding it really difficult to train and keep that professional level with working. Especially when my new employer isn’t as lenient as previous have been. It’s a hard decision to make when it’s in your own hands.”

“Everything that’s happened in my life, especially growing up, has made me work harder, made want to do really well in life and it’s taught me that the l the harder I work the better the outcome will be – it’s given me a better work ethic which I guess is reflected in my success in sport. I really look forward to having children and bringing them up in a similar way I was with my aunt, with structure and that work ethic, as well as a lot my values and things I love.”

Innovation Article:

Innovation in The Magazine Industry – The Tablet:

We all enjoy picking up and flicking through a magazine if it’s there in front of you, but how often do you buy one? From personal experience, as much as I love fashion magazines, I rarely buy them. I find myself looking at websites and twitter feeds of all the big UK publications. I'm sure I am not the only one to do this; online material is free and takes up less space. But what effect is this having on the magazine industry?

In the last 20 years journalism has changed dramatically, as has the way readers consume print journalism. The development of the internet and its accessibility has meant that online media is more interactive, more convenient and more attractive than the traditional form.

Many more of us are enjoying weekly or monthly magazines, such as Vogue or Q magazine, in their online form rather than their hard copies. There is a significantly greater demand for online versions of print publications, and so print publications have been forced to take on an online presence to remain competitive in the industry.

The advantage of a publication being active online, compared to its traditional form is the contemporaneousness of articles and information. What is featured in magazines is usually dated within a few days. The online versions can be updated as soon as news breaks or a new article is ready. As well as this, a lot of the content that is found in the magazine is also available online and usually free of charge. Although some publications online only give a limited length of an article and encourage you to pay to view the full issue online for a one off or monthly subscription.

A magazine with an online presence requires more than written text. Photos and video are vital to online interactivity, giving greater consumer satisfaction than reading off of a piece of paper. This has changed the work ethic of journalists. Instead of contributing a few articles over the week or month for the next issue of said publication, journalists are now required to be constantly producing content on many different platforms to feed its readership. While an article is being written or the lead up to an interview, the journalist is expected to tweet about it and to post photos on Instagram while its taking place, as well as a short report for the website and a personal blog entry about the piece as a teaser. Once articles are complete, to compliment them, photo galleries and video clips are required to add to the experience.

One of the biggest innovations in the last five years is the emergence of the tablet - the mobile internet device. Tablets such as the iPhone, iPad or the Kindle allow us to download 'apps' so that you can use websites and things you love on the go. This includes newspapers and magazine apps, which have all of the content of their print form available, with some extras, in front of you, at the click of a button. The thing that is unique about these online apps is the ability to personalise them to fit your wants and needs as a reader and their seamless links to other websites and social media (which plays a huge part in online media sharing).

There is the opportunity to comment on articles and share them via social media sites on these online tablet apps and this allows the reader to feel as though they are part of the story, and in way they add to the meaning of a story, creating colour and giving the journalist more to think about or even write something new in response. This reader response element of online journalism makes it more collaborative and more meaningful as part of a democracy.

Online social media plays an important role in the marketing of these online publications. There is a need and demand for all publication to be active on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. because they are available on the go and are a current trend. These social media sites are also apps for tablets and are available in the same place as your magazine. They act as a means for instant news sharing and allow the opportunity for users to have easy access to this information and allow the journalist to share things immediately. They encourage reader responses and sometimes create means for competition and amateur journalism.

Most people only read online articles because they have been shared on a social media site by a friend and have caught there interest. Not because of their loyal following of that publication. This highlights how people can personalise their experience of reading a magazine rather than having to read it in its entirety and also highlights how collaborative it can be.

ASOS.com is a UK online fashion brand which retails fashion and beauty products all over the world and aims its product at those in their 20s. Without the development of the internet the ASOS.com brand would not be successful or even exist as it relies on a web-savvy consumer. As an online fashion warehouse there is no limit to what’s on offer for customers to buy, as there would be in a high street store.  ASOS.com is the hub of the brand and gives its users the ability to ‘shop trends’ which are updated daily and follow the ASOS blog.

The ASOS.com magazine is a monthly magazine which is available to all VIP members of their online store.  The ‘VIP’ customer status is available by selecting an option on your online account to receive the magazine and special offers on the products they sell. The printed copy is a generic fashion and celebrity magazine, but also acts as a ‘look-book’ for products sold online.

The iPad and Tablet ASOS Magazine application is a free app and offers all of the features of the print magazine, ad free and with the added bonus of beauty tutorial videos, to show readers how to achieve hairstyles and make-up looks step by step, and in app purchasing, which give readers the freedom to see current fashion trends and buy them at the click of a button. Rather than having to put down a magazine and get to a computer to buy products. This for the company must be more profitable as it doesn’t give readers too much of chance to hesitate when wanting to buy items.

In recent issues of the printed magazine, readers have been left a note to inform them of future changes: because of the innovation of online mobile devices and their popularity the ASOS.com magazine will soon only be available to read on the ASOS magazine app. This reflects the changes the magazine industry as whole is going through and could suggest the future of all printed magazines.

But even though the ASOS.com magazine is a free publication and isn’t as prestigious as, for example, the Vogue brand, it still shows how a successful and profitable brand are aware of which changes have to be made to keep it profitable. Keeping the ASOS magazine in its printed form, with the cost of printing and distribution is not necessary as it’s in demand online and suits its audience and brand well.

Written by Kirsty Warwick-Mcdonagh

Professional Interview:

'How are you a journalist? You exploit every source you've got.'

Jim White has spent the last decade as a feature writer and sport columnist for The Daily Telegraph.

With a career that spans over almost thirty years, Jim was one of the founding members of The Independent back in the 1980s, and spent his year prior to The Daily Telegraph writing for The Guardian.  Alongside his career as a writer, Jim regularly contributes to BBC Radio 4 and Five Live, 'Radio is a different discipline its less formal and less collaborative.'

Jim’s journalism career began at university, writing for the university paper which opened the doors to his first job at a magazine, started by a friend of his. 'I got into journalism through the exercise of good fortune, I was extremely lucky.' Unfortunately, that magazine folded and Jim was made redundant. The journey which lead him to his current role at The Daily Telegraph was well earned; after his time at university and first magazine job, Jim spent time at a local newspaper group until he became a freelance journalist. 'I went freelance and I started doing shifts on fleet street papers, so diary shifts, news shifts that kind of thing. And then, again [I was] very, very lucky. The guy who had been my first editor rang me up and said some friends of his were starting a newspaper and did I want to apply for a job - that was the independent. So I went to the independent when it started, and worked my way up there. I was there for ten years and then I went to the guardian, I was there for seven years and then I came to the telegraph ten years ago.'

As a reporter, Jim enjoys the flexibility of not having to stick to a routine. With points throughout the week where column deadlines need to be met, the only real structure in his week come in the form of a scheduled football match or sporting event. 'Principally you get up in the morning and write something, you find something out and write about it.'

Writing articles and a sports column for a national newspaper comes with a huge pressure to satisfy readers and create a discussion amongst them, Jim does by giving his audience what they want to read about. 'Football is the biggest [sport] by far, I'm a general sport reporter but the football dominates everything. You get little windows, so the Olympics was great cause it was a football free zone and you wrote about other things and in the build up to it you were writing about swimmers, riders, cyclists, but most of the time its football because that’s what people want to read about.'

He believes that working for The Daily Telegraph allows him to be involved in what he believes is the imperative concept of journalism – sharing. 'Journalism gives you platform for dissemination of information and opinion. So being a national newspaper journalist is having a hugely listened to platform for you opinion. It’s a great vehicle.' He also believes that it is vital to be able to deliver on all platforms to get the job and be successful in journalism. 'The idea that you're just a print journalist is absurd!! Print is dying. You've got to know your way around you've got to produce what's required. I don’t think it’s possible that you can’t not exist online now.' Jim continued to discuss the importance of social media for online journalism whether you’re a national or local journalist – ‘Most people now would get to a newspaper website via recommendation whether it be from Facebook or from Twitter. Someone sending 'check this out' or 'this is a very good piece' and them clicking on it, that's how people get to newspaper websites. They don't go to the newspaper website and look at it first. They get to stories that way. You've got embrace that or nobody is going to read what you write.’

His career has developed alongside technology and was able to identify the dramatic changes in journalism and the way the industry has adapted to them. Although there were computers and electronic equipment available, Jim recalls spending his time at The Times working on hand typewriters 'You did everything in triplicate and you put your copy in a little steel tea box in the middle of the table, and whenever they felt like it some printer, bejewelled youth, would  come around grab it.' It’s not only journalistic tools which have changed and developed working practice has too to fit the demand of the advancements in technology, working practice has had to meet this demand also. 'The first time I covered Wimbledon was about 18 years ago, and at Wimbledon they have this wonderful bar for the press, beautiful, exclusively for the press and it overlooks some outside courts. It’s a great place to go, and when I first went that bar was full of journalists drinking, Sunday journalists who during the week are there  getting atmosphere, getting contacts but only have write one piece a week.' Jim continues say, 'If you go to Wimbledon now no one is in that bar. You just haven’t got the opportunity to go to a bar because at the moment Andy Murray wins a match you have to file a report for the website. In the old days you had hours before you had to file anything because it was only going to go in the next paper.' ‘Plus there’s a proliferation of other media, you've got radio people wanting comments, there's TV people wanting comments; you're all feeding off of each other.

In keeping with the demand of online journalism, Jim has written and been the face of various 'gonzo' style video clips on The Telegraph website, which focus on putting himself at the centre of the piece. A recent example saw Jim practising on the ten meter board with Olympic Diver, Tom Daley.

When asked if he enjoyed this this type of journalism, he said 'I quite like not being in the piece. Being an observer not at the centre of it. That's not necessarily my way I prefer watching, as a fly on the wall. One of the good things about being journalist is that you just have a notebook and nobody notices. Their behaviour doesn't change as a result. Sure, if you speak to them they're gonna’ put on an act. But with a camera it slightly, subtly creates an artificial situation where people act a bit.'

Throughout his career, Jim has had the opportunity to interview many high profile people and greatly admired sports personalities, but when asked about his favourite interview, he referred to a feature he had written for Q magazine many years ago. 'I was sent to Los Angeles, to Hollywood to interview David Lee Roth, who was the lead singer of heavy metal band Van Halen. I had no interest in him and no interest in heavy metal at all. But I spent three days with him and found them the most interesting, fascinating, amazing - it was three days of pure pleasure, and a lot of background for a 2000 word piece. But it was great, he was hilarious!'

Despite the dramatic changes in the media over the last 25 years, Jim would still encourage anyone with a passion for journalism to pursue it, even in the competitive climate of today. ‘If you have a passion for an area then that will come through in your journalism and there’s journalism for everything.’ Even though getting a job in journalism is difficult, Jim highlights that ‘The process of getting a job in journalism entails all the skills you need to do the job. If you can get the job, you can do the job fine.'

Written by Kirsty Warwick-McDonagh

Law Test Revision Notes:

The legal Principles For Journalists:

Freedom of expression  - now secured in UK law through the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10).  But also protected by UK case law and precedent.

 

Rule against prior restraint  - the long standing assumption in English law that any remedy should FOLLOW publication rather than there be RESTRAINT  or censorship before it.  The use of injunctions has tended to undermine this.

 

The public interest - the idea that certain information is particularly valuable to society as a whole.  How the information was gained (which may have involved dishonesty) is secondary. This does not include information that is of interest to the public like a kiss and tell story. There is a general public interest which allows a broad range of material to be published. 

 

Right to a jury trial - juries have a history of being reluctant to convict journalists who may argue they are serving the public interest.

 

European Convention on Human Rights - Less pleasant aspect for some newspapers is that the Convention has introduced the idea of Privacy (Article 8) into British law

Law Test Revision Notes:

1. The Legal Framework in the UK: 

 The Hierarchy of the courts:

Criminal Law: 
Criminal law is concerned with crimes against people e.g. Murder. These are deal 
with in a crown court, with a judge and a jury who decide on whether the 
defendant is guilty 'beyond reasonable doubt.' The crown court deals with 
indictable offences (trys indictable offences, appeals from magistrates court, 
sentencing).
Hearings prior the jury usually occur (application for dismissal before 
arraignment' pre-trial hearings and preparatory hearings). These have automatic 
reporting restrictions, which are the same as when a jury is present during the 
trial. 
Minor criminal cases can be tried or sentenced in a magistrates court, sometimes 
these cases are serious enough for jail time but not for a crown court trial 
(summary trials, committals, family courts youth courts, licensing appeals). 
Like in a crown court, Pre trial hearings have reporting restrictions attached, 
just in case they're taken to crown court. 

Civil Law:
Civil law is mostly concerned with disputes between people over, for example 
contract law, breach of statutory duty, family law cases and chancery matters. 
These are usually dealt with in county courts. Where matters are more serious or 
complex, the high court deals with proceedings. The high court is made of of 
three divisions. These proceedings depend on the 'balance of probability'.

Seven points for reporting restrictions to avoid libel and contempt of court, in 
criminal and civil cases, at crown, magistrates or county courts:

1. The name of the court and judge/magistrates name. 

2. The names, ages, home addresses and occupations of the defendants and witnesses. 

3. The charge(s) or summary of it/them. 

4. The name of solicitors and barristers in the proceedings.

5. If the case is adjourned, the place and date it's moved to. 

6. Arrangements concerning bail. 

7. Whether legal aid was granted. 

The sources of Law:
Common law.
Case law. 
Acts of parliament. 
European law.  

Possible Questions:

What is the highest court in the UK?  Where does it sit? How many justices?

Three functions of Crown Courts?  (Trys indictable offences, appeals from mags, sentencing)

Three functions of Magistrates courts?  (Summary trials, committals, family courts, youth courts, licensing appeals)

What is the difference between a civil and criminal offence?

Is the legal test of proof the same or different?

Give 3 sources of law in the UK.

What do journalists mean by the public interest?

2. Reporting crime and the courts:
Prejudice: where the publication of certain information where the publication of 
certain information will make it difficult for an caused person to be treated fairly at trial I.e the jury 

already know background facts about the defendant. 
Contempt: where information is published in breach of the rules on crime or court reporting.

High risk of prejudicing legal proceedings. 

 
The stages of processing & reporting crime:
The crime is reported - 
The police make and arrest - 
The police lay charges - 
Magistrates court hearing - restricted to seven points: 

1. The name of the court and judge/magistrates name. 

2. The names, ages, home addresses and occupations of the defendants and witnesses. 

3. The charge(s) or summary of it/them. 

4. The name of solicitors and barristers in the proceedings.

5. If the case is adjourned, the place and date it's moved to. 

6. Arrangements concerning bail. 

7. Whether legal aid was granted. 

Types of offence:
Indictable -
Either-way - 
Summary - 

Crown courts: 
Where a jury is not present nothing should be reported - risks contempt. 
Reporters covering court proceedings enjoy absolute privilege which is a defence 
against any action for defamation. This privilege depends on the report being 
fast, accurate and fair. Any defamatory shouts are not privileged. 

Possible Questions:

One morning you arrive at court and barristers are making legal arguments about crucial evidence. You notice the jury isn’t there.  Can you report the proceedings?

What is required of your court report for it to attract absolute privilege?

In this context explain what is meant by ‘fair’.

During a murder trial a family member shouts at the defendant from the public gallery. “You lying bastard – you killed our boy!”  Is that safe to report?

3. Libel and defamation: 
Libel = defamation + identification + publication. 

A defamatory comment tends to:

• lower someone in the estimation of right thinking people. 

• Causes someone to be shunned and avoided. 

• Disparages someone in their business, trade, office or profession. 

• Exposes someone to hatred, ridicule or contempt. 

These can apply to a company as well as an individual. 

Juxtaposition libel is a problem for broadcast journalism. 

The issue with inference(secondary meaning) and innuendo (a possible defamatory suggestion). 

New libel defences - defamation act 2013:
You must prove:
There was no serious harm to a person or a company. 
Truth - the statement must be a true and honest opinion based on fact or facts 
that existed at the time of the statement. But there must be no malice! 
Public interest - if it published because it it reasonably believed it is in the 
interest of the public. 
Absolute privilege - so long as it it follows the rules required and is fast, 
accurate and fair. 
Qualified privilege - so long as the defamation took place in a situation where QP applies e.g. 

A council meeting, police statement, press conference. 

Possible Questions:

How would you define libel?

How do we know when a statement is defamatory (4 tests used by judges)

What particular danger is there of libel for TV journalists?

What are the 3 major libel defences?

Look up The McApline Affair. 

4. Qualified privilege: 
Day to day protections for journalists in routine reporting. Eg. public meetings, council hearings, 

press conferences, police statements. 
Allows us to report information which may be defamatory or untrue. 

There is legal protection so long as it is fast, accurate and fair, without malice. 
There are two levels of QP - with and without explanation. 

With explanation: 
Any public meeting in the UK - whether admission is general or restricted. 
        - local councils 
        - tribunals, commissions, inquiries appointed by statutory provision. 
        - general meetings of UK public companies.
        - company documents or extracts from. 

Without explanation: 

• public proceedings in a legislature anywhere in the world. 

• Public proceedings in a court anywhere in the world. 

• Public proceedings of a public inquiry anywhere in the world. 

• Public proceedings of an international organisation conference. 

• Extract of any register or document legally required to be public. 

• A notice or advert published on legal authority anywhere in the world. 

• Extract of matter published on government authority anywhere. 

• Extract of matter published by international organisation anywhere in the world. 

The Reynolds Defence:
Protects the publication of defamatory material, provided it was a matter of public interest and 

that it was a product of responsible journalism. 

Lord Nicholls' list:

• The seriousness of the allegation. 

• The nature of the information (public interest?).

• The source of the information.

• The steps taken to verify the information. 

• The status of the information. 

• The urgency of the matter. 

• Whether the comment was from the claimant. 

• Whether the article contained the gist of the claimants story. 

• The tone of the article. 

• The circumstances of the publication. 

Possible Questions:

Why is the legal principle of privilege so important to journalists?

Give examples of occasions when reports may attract QP with, and without, explanation and contradiction.

Why was a public meeting in 2000 about the jailed paratrooper Lee Clegg so significant?

5. Copyright: 
Copyright is the exclusive legal right, given to the originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, 

film or record literary, artistic or musical material, and to authorities others to do the same. 

What is the purpose of copyright? To protect intellectual property. Undeveloped ideas, brief slogans or

catchphrases aren't protected. 
 
Fair dealing allows other media outlets to lift journalistic material BUT
        - work cannot be passed off as your own. 
        - usage must be fair. 
        - material must be in the public interest. 
You cannot used fair dealing for photographs & internet material is subject to copyright. 

Possible questions:

What’s the purpose of copyright law?

You use a photo off the internet.  Is it free of copyright? 

Why is the principle of fair dealing important and what are its limitations?

6. Confidentiality:
Safeguards information gained in confidential circumstances. 
There are three areas of concern:
        - Revealing state secrets or official secrets.
        - Revealing commercial secrets
        - Revealing facts about a person they expected to stay private

The official secrets act -  protects state secrets. Breaches are a criminal offence. Juries don't usually 

convict whistle-blowers. 

Commercial confidentiality - Usually protected by contract employment. 

Personal confidence/Privacy - Protected under article eight of the European 
convention.  

Journalists must decide how newsworthy confidential information is an either

- Risk an injunction for a response to the allegation 
OR
- publish the material and risk legal action for a breach of confidence or defamation if the info in 

inaccurate. 

Examples:
Max Mosley vs the News of The World - the paper claimed Mosley had an orgy with five women 

claiming it had a Nazi theme. The ruled there was in public internet in revealing this, and so Mosley 

had a right of privacy and damages were awarded. 

Naomi Campbell vs the mirror group - 
Possible Questions:

What is the purpose of the law of confidence?

What are the danger areas for journalists?

What dilemma does a journalist face when newsworthy information comes into his or her possession?

Privacy is now better protected under Human Rights Act Art 8. Give an example of where public figures have won cases where they have claimed breach of privacy or confidence.

7. PCC, Ofcom & BBC Guidelines - Regulatory Codes:

Covers journalistic behaviour when getting a story - what is justified.

Ofcom rules there is an absolute requirement for accuracy and impartiality. 
PCC discredited post Leveson - next move unclear. 
BBC guidelines designed as a system of self regulation. 

Ofcom has statutory power. It can impose large fines and remove broadcasting licences.

E.g. ITVs Ant and Dec were fined £5.6mil for abusing phone in votes to make money. 

Possible Questions: 
What bodies are responsible for regulating professional conduct of journalists?

Which body has the most power and why? Ofcom - it has statutory powers. 

Define impartiality. Would there be any difference in your approach to this if you were working in 

newspapers or broadcast? Impartiality means non biased - there is a different approach taken by 

broadcast and print journalists. Newspapers don't not have to remain impartial a lot of them take 

political leaning during elections. Broadcast journalists, because of the regulations of Ofcom, 

must always be impartial.

8. Reporting Elections: 
Journalistic impartiality and accuracy is at its greatest during election time. 
Our reporting will assist the democratic process to allow voters to make choices. 
What are the dangers?
        - false statements about candidates. 
        - maintaining impartiality. 
        - reporting opinion polls or exit polls. 

Broadcasters are obliged to maintain strict impartiality. This is done by assessing coverage daily and 

over several days and also by keeping a log. 

Major party candidates and minor party or fringe candidates don't not have to be treated equally. 
It is an offence to mention exit poll until the polling stations are close. No coverage of political issues 

or argument on polling day. 

• Representation of the people act. 

• Different rules for broadcasters and printed news during elections. Why? Ofcom 

• Cannot give false statements about other candidates. 

• Opinion polls - can be biased and can be unreliable. 

• Broadcasting in England & wales will focus on the three main parties and UKIP - now considered 

  a big party in the European elections (article on press gazette).

Possible Questions:

Why is accuracy and impartiality especially important at election times?

What are the danger areas for journalists during campaign reporting?

Must all candidates standing in a constituency be covered equally?

On polling day when can we start reporting exit polls?

On polling day a candidate makes a final plea to voters – can we report this?

Phil Woolas. Relevant example/case study.

Law Recap Lecture:

Confidentiality:

Safeguards information gained in confidential circumstances. 
There are three areas of concern:
        - Revealing state secrets or official secrets.
        - Revealing commercial secrets
        - Revealing facts about a person they expected to stay private

    
Journalists must decide how newsworthy confidential information is and either:

- risk an injunction for a response to the allegation 
OR
- publish the material and risk legal action for a breach of confidence or defamation if the info in 

inaccurate. 

Breach of confidence:
There are three elements to breach of confidence
 - The information must have been imparted in circumstances imposing an obligation of confidence.
 - The information must have the necessary quality of confidence.
 - There must be an unauthorized use of that information to the party communicating it.