The journalist writes the story, and submits it to the editor. The newspaper prints it as a front page splash. Simultaneously as the newspaper is published, the newspaper delivers all of its documents to the local police station and hands them over. Is the editor’s behaviour acceptable ? -Withholding evidence - illegal

-Using the information for his own means, rather than helping the police with their investigation

Coach crash

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

ECHR 8 The Right to Privacy

Article 10 – Freedom of expression. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

ECHR 10 The right to information

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

Celebrities

Police

Politicians

recommendations

Leveson agenda

The relationship between the press and the public, phone-hacking and other potentially illegal behaviour.

184 witnesses, including the Dowlers, McCanns

Module 1:

The relationships between the press and police and the extent to which that has operated in the public interest.

February 2012

Module 2:

The relationship between press and politicians.

Module 3:

Recommendations for a more effective policy and regulation that supports the integrity and freedom of the press while encouraging the highest ethical standards.

Module 4

News of the World

Journalism

The media

James Murdoch

Murdoch credibility

PCC

Rebecca Brookes

Hackers and PDs, Steve Whittamore(the Motorman files)

Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson

Casualties so far

Celebrities

News Corp competitors

The public

beneficiaries

•Lord Donaldson (Master of the Rolls) in the Spycatcher case

•A free press is an essential element in maintaining parliamentary democracy and the British way of life as we know it. But it is important to know why the press occupies this crucial position. It is not because of any special wisdom, interest or status enjoyed by the proprietors, editors or journalists. It is because the media are the eyes and ears of the general public. They act on behalf of the general public. Their right to know and their right to publish is neither more nor less than that of the public. Indeed it is that of the general public for whom they are trustees.

Press as watchdog

•Lord Bingham (2000)

•In a modern developed society it is only a small minority of citizens who can participate directly in the discussions and decisions which shape the public life of that society. The majority can participate only indirectly, by exercising their rights as citizens to vote, express their opinions, make representations to the authorities, form pressure groups and so on.

•But the majority cannot participate in the public life of their society in these ways if they are not alerted to and informed about matters which call or may call for consideration and action. It is largely through the media, including of course the press, that they will be so alerted and informed. The proper functioning of a modern participatory democracy requires that the media be free, active, professional and inquiring.

Fourth Estate

•Protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for press freedom..... Without such protection, sources may be deterred from assisting the press and informing the public on matters of public interest. The vital public watchdog role of the press may be undermined ...such a measure cannot be compatible with Article 10 of the Convention unless it is justified by an overriding requirement of public interest..

Journalistic sources

I think contempt laws can work perfectly well. It was never the object of contempt laws that it was going to stop every piece of tittle tattle round a dinner table or in a pub.

Social Media

"This John Terry saga, has turned into one of the most hideously managed spectacles I have ever known. WTF is going on...... We all know what was said. Its there on TV for all to see. Do I think hes a racist? No. I think hes said something really stupid in the heat of battle/argument. This should of been dealt with instantly (Like Suarez or more games) and put to bed.The longer it goes on, the worse it is for the game. Racism needs to be stamped out. We all agree on that. This is now affecting England as well as those involved. I dont a f*cking man and took his punishment for what he said. This is now helping nobody. The one I feel for is Anton, hes done nowt wrong and has.Once the issue went out of the FA's control, it was always going to get messy. They should have dealt with it instantly. Now its a farce..Should of thrown his hands up and admitted his grave error. Excepted his deserved disciplinary action and let everyone move on.Whose the winner in all of this? I cant think of anyone....can you? What a debacle its turned into. Sad state of affairs. Heads should roll.I am fuming for my teammate Stan. For 6 months, he has to carry on dealing with this situation when hes done nothing wrong""I'll probably get a letter now from "the powers that be." If you're reading this don't bother........."

About @Joey7Barton

4,104Tweets

89Following

1,211,500Followers4,124Listed

Daily Mirror : 1,102,810 ; -6.32 ( -1.76 ) NA

Daily Record : 291,825 ; -6.60 ( 5.73 ) 1,845

Daily Star : 617,082 ; -14.11 ( -1.11 ) NA

The Sun : 2,582,301 ; -8.38 ( -6.14 ) NA

Daily Express : 577,543 ; -7.39 ( -1.56 ) NA

Daily Mail : 1,945,496 ; -6.04 ( -3.27 ) 118,076

The Daily Telegraph : 578,774 ; -7.89 ( -2.92 ) NA

Financial Times : 316,493 ; -16.43 ( -1.02 ) 32,452

The Herald : 46,122 ; -10.00 ( -0.77 ) NA

The Guardian : 215,988 ; -17.75 ( -5.99 ) NA

i : 264,432 ; 50.49 ( 8.68 ) 57,285

The Independent : 105,160 ; -42.38 ( -10.18 ) 33,784

The Scotsman : 37,731 ; -9.73 ( -4.07 ) 3,338

The Times : 397,549 ; -10.86 ( -1.87 ) NA

Racing Post : 45,278 ; -9.66 ( -5.16 ) 31

The Daily Mirror / Daily Record : 1,394,635 ; -6.38 ( -0.28 ) 1,845

ABC figures: 9th MarchDailies

He pleaded guilty to incitement to racial hatred and was freed on bail on condition he stays off Twitter and other social networking sites.

Liam Stacey

Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them. For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential. Some Tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country, some make us laugh, some make us think, some downright anger a vast majority of users. We don't always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content.

 The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact. This is both a practical and ethical belief. On a practical level, we simply cannot review all one hundred million-plus Tweets created and subsequently delivered every day. From an ethical perspective, almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits.

 At Twitter, we have identified our own responsibilities and limits. There are Tweets that we do remove, such as illegal Tweets and spam. However, we make efforts to keep these exceptions narrow so they may serve to prove a broader and more important rule—we strive not to remove Tweets on the basis of their content. For more on what we allow and what we don’t, 

  

Message from Twitter

Our position on freedom of expression carries with it a mandate to protect our users' right to speak freely and preserve their ability to contest having their private information revealed. While we may need to release information as required by law, we try to notify Twitter users before handing over their information whenever we can so they have a fair chance to fight the request if they so choose.

 We continue to work towards further transparency when we remove Tweets for legal reasons. We submit all copyright removal notices to @chillingeffects and they are now Tweeting them from @ChillFirehose. We will continue to increase our transparency in this area and encourage you to let us know if you think we have not met our aspirations with regard to your freedom of expression.

 Discussion on topics from geopolitical events to wardrobe malfunctions make Twitter both important and fun. Providing the tools that foster these discussions and following the policies that keep them alive is meaningful work for us. If you are interested in this topic, we encourage you to follow the accounts collected @twitter/freedom-of-expression or better yet, come work with us.

Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd was a House of Lords case in English defamation law concerning qualified privilege for publication of defamatory statements in the public interest.

The case provided the Reynolds defence, which can be raised where it is clear that the journalist had a duty to publish an allegation even if it turns out to be wrong. In adjudicating on an attempted Reynolds defence a court will investigate the conduct of the journalist and the content of the publication. The subsequent case of Jameel v Wall Street Journal Europe affirmed the defence, which has been successfully raised in several defamation proceedings.

The Reynolds Defence

List of ten criteria against which attempts to use the Reynolds defence should be judged:

1) The seriousness of the allegation. The more serious the charge, the more the public is misinformed and the individual harmed, if the allegation is not true.2) The nature of the information, and the extent to which the subject-matter is a matter of public concern.3) The source of the information. Some informants have no direct knowledge of the events. Some have their own axes to grind, or are being paid for their stories.4) The steps taken to verify the information.5) The status of the information. The allegation may have already been the subject of an investigation which commands respect.6) The urgency of the matter. News is often a perishable commodity.7) Whether comment was sought from the plaintiff. He may have information others do not possess or have not disclosed. An approach to the plaintiff will not always be necessary.8) Whether the article contained the gist of the plaintiff's side of the story.9) The tone of the article. A newspaper can raise queries or call for an investigation. It need not adopt allegations as statements of fact.10) The circumstances of the publication, including the timing.

The Times was sued over a story about possible police corruption in connection with the extradition of an oligarch to Russia. The newspaper named Sergeant Gary Flood and provided details of allegations that led to an internal police inquiry, it also included a denial of impropriety from Flood, via his lawyers, and a statement from the Metropolitan Police confirming that an investigation was going on.

A major problem for The Times was that when it was informed, many months later, that the investigation found no evidence against Flood it didn't update its online article. When the case came before the high court, Mr Justice Tugendhat decided that, while the print publication was protected by Reynolds privilege, the defence to the web version of the story fell away after the police officer was cleared.

Sergeant Gary Flood

Ahmed Khan: South Tyneside Council

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392029/Council-takes-Twitter-US-court-personal-information-using-taxpayers-money.html

“ The tabloid printed open-coffin images from Whitney Houston's viewing. That's her corpse on the cover. While it is customary, in certain cultures, for family and friends to gather for a final viewing of the dead, this particular image is invasive in that the viewing was not for public consumption. The publication was certainly not invited to the funeral home in Newark, and must have paid someone for an illicit cameraphone picture.”

However, it is suspected that the photo is a fake.

Whitney Houston

PIPA Protect IP Act

SOPA Stop Online Piracy Act

Sir Tim Berners Lee

The proposals are ‘ a grave threat to the openness of the internet

copyright

England failed in its World Cup Bid. The bid went to Qatar. Deeply controversial. England were promised votes that never materialised. Corruption is suspected.

You have researched it, and have been offered an interview with one of the committee who voted, and has now retired. He will spill the beans on the corrupt system, and name names, he says. But he wants £1,000 for the interview. Should you proceed?

Scruples 2

ForGetting secret/sensitive information that no one else knows about

Exclusive information

Insight into the corruption

Allowing people to see the truth

Probably earn more than £1000 from the story

Interest in the story

Good publicity for the newspaper – promotion, sell more papers,

AgainstMay not be given truthful information – could be lying

Blackmail

The speaker may be involved and be pointing fingers at other people

Bad publicity

Impact other peoples careers

The Olympics is underway in London. There have been some very surprising results. An unknown Chinese sprinter won the 200 metres final.

Tomorrow it’s the 100 m final.

You and a colleague have set up a meeting with the Jamaican favourite for the race. You have spoken to him by phone, and claimed to be a member of an Arab betting syndicate. You are to meet him in a hotel, where you will pay him £100,000 if he agrees to let someone else win the race.

You will secretly record the meeting.

Are you right to do this?

Scruples 3

Insight into the corruption/cheating

Exclusive story – scandal

For

Invasion of privacy

Blackmail

Ethical issue: Lying about who they are – setting someone up – entrapment

Bribery – both as bad as each other

Against

Brendon Fearon of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire was convicted for conspiring to burgle the home of farmer Tony Martin on 20 August 1999. His accomplice, 16-year-old Fred Barras, was fatally shot by Martin near his remote farmhouse in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk. Fearon, aged 29 at the time, was hospitalised with gunshot wounds to his legs.

During 2003, Fearon applied for, and received, an estimated £5,000 of legal aid to sue Martin for loss of earnings due to the injury he sustained. However, the case was thrown into doubt when photographs of Fearon cycling were published in The Sun showing Fearon's injuries were not as serious as had been claimed. Fearon later dropped the case when Martin agreed to drop a counter-claim.

Brendon Fearon

Mohammed AamerAamer was involved in spot fixing during a game. “The trio didn’t put the result of the match at stake, but merely their temptation to earn some money by bowling a few “harmless” no-balls was enough.” This effected their careers and gave them jail time.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/tom-daley-twitter-police-olympic-diver_n_1722739.html

After Daley came fourth in the Olympics’ synchronized diving event, he was contacted on twitter saying he had let his father down. Daley’s father passed away in 2011 from a brain tumour. A 17-year-old boy was arrested at a guest house in the Weymouth area on suspicion of malicious communications. Dorset Police said they acted after being contacted by a member of the public at about 22:30 BST on Monday. A spokesman was unable to confirm whether the arrest was specifically over the tweets to Daley or subsequent Twitter conversations with other users. The boy later apologized for the tweet and other twitter users showed their support.

Tom Daley