WIDER ISSUES: Privacy

This is a topic I've frequently blogged on - use the tag cloud to find previous posts.

There are two ways to view the issue of privacy as it applies to media law and regulation:

1. There should be tougher, tighter restrictions on the media's ability to invade our privacy, as tabloid newspapers in particular persist in doing so on flimsy grounds
2. We urgently need to liberalise privacy law in favour of the media, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for UK media to publish information about the rich and powerful (those with access to expensive lawyers)

As ever, there are overlapping issues with digitisation:

• UK-only privacy regulation/law is made absurd by the easy access to global online resources
• As most of us permit websites and apps to track huge amounts of personal information about us, we increasingly undermine the argument that we have a right to privacy

There are cases from the press, TV and film that we can consider, but there is a further point we swiftly encounter, for example through the Max Mosley case:

• Media regulation of single industries makes no sense, and is ineffective, when there is so much cross-media ownership

Children as an issue

Ppt on this
Suffer the Little Children


Here's a doc which gathers together PC + PCC egs of children cases:
Children Regulatory Rulings Compiled

1.       How do your ideas compare with whats written at http://www.katiebacon.co.uk/challenge-negative-press-coverage-of-young-people-leveson-inquiry/ Note the UN quote at http://www.crae.org.uk/news-and-events/news/crae-celebrates-positive-media-coverage-of-childrens-rights-free-publication-to-download.html

http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/children
1994 US report says media coverage of children centres on crime;
This is about asylum seekers and a counter-hegemonic attempt to contest press stereotypes through working with children; the intro para immed. brings up the concept of 'moral panics';
this compares press coverage of children across Europe;
an American study using content analysis shows 51% of articles about child sex cases identifies the child ("Protecting victims’ identities in press coverage of child victimization" - abstract only);
children's rights not covered in press articles report finds;
1994 content analysis of child sex abuse cases finds the wider context + prevention strategies gets little coverage;

1.       Which case has led to multiple court payments over defamation, particularly from Desmond’s papers? [McCanns: http://www.mccannfiles.com/id318.html. PCC tackle this case, flagging up their positive role: http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/newsletter/april/mcanns.html]

Press Council PPT

As promised, this is the PPT we've used in class. Web was down when I created it, so its not the most attractive - but it is rammed with useful points...
Press Council
We'll be looking at how to link egs from the PC/PCC/OfCom...