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Media law and Regulation Assignment PDF

   

Added on  2021-04-21

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Running head: MEDIA LAW AND REGULATIONLibel: Rights and DefenceName of the student:Name of the university:Author note

1MEDIA LAW AND REGULATIONTable of ContentsPotential libel risks:....................................................................................................................2Who could sue?......................................................................................................................3Defence:..................................................................................................................................3How to reduce the libel risk while still writing an enticing story:.........................................4Breach of privacy:......................................................................................................................4Commenced legal proceedings:.................................................................................................5News Report...............................................................................................................................6Reference:..................................................................................................................................8

2MEDIA LAW AND REGULATIONPotential libel risks:Newspapers are considered to be an important part of our daily life. It providesvaluable information regarding politics, economy, entertainment, sports and commercialmatters. However, there are certain legal responsibilities present in case of any publication innewspaper portal. It is important to point out the potential red flags with an intention toclarify the legal risks related to the publication. The defamatory responsibilities regarding themedia publisher are named as Libel from the legal term (Barendt 2017). One of the mostobvious risks regarding publication is defamation and false light. Claim for defamation willbe placed if the publication poses a threat to the reputation of the claimant. However, in thiscase, the statement must be based on unreal fact and the matter should be based on the privatelife of the person. A true fact could not come under the purview of defamation. The law thatgoverns the defamatory statement published in newspaper in United Kingdom is DefamationAct 2013 (Townend 2017). Further, the private information of any person published innewspaper will be treated as a breach of section 230 of Communications Decency Act.Another potential libel risk is that if any private information has been stated in the newspaperwithout the consent of the person and with an intention to gain profit, it will be treated as thebreach of right of publicity. If the newspaper authority has used the name of a person withoutobtaining permission from him or her, the publisher has to face the liability formisappropriation (Watson, Roldan and Faza 2017). The information published by SundayWatchdog shall be held liable under Article 10 of the European Conventions on HumanRight. According to the Article, the newspaper could not take the plea under Freedom ofSpeech if the statement has violated the reputation of any person. The same principle hasbeen codified under Article 17 of the United NationsInternational Covenant on Civil and

3MEDIA LAW AND REGULATIONPolitical Rights. Further, the claimant can ask for compensation from the newspaper authorityfor invasion of privacy (Stephenson 2016). Who could sue?There are two types of suit can be filed against defamatory statement in thenewspaper such as civil proceeding and criminal proceeding. The person against whom thedefamatory statement has been published can be sued the newspaper (Hall‐Lipsy andMalanga 2017). In addition, if the person against whom the statement has been published is apublic figure, the Government of the state could take proper legal action against the publisherof the newspaper. Therefore, considering the facts of the given case study, it can be statedthat the Minister can file a suit against the newspaper under the claim for invasion of privacy.He can only file the case under the defamation ground if he can prove that the statementmade in the newspaper is false (Jordan 2016). Further, as he is a public face and one of theimminent members of the Parliament, the government can sue the newspaper authority forbreaching the privacy acts. Defence:According to the Defamation Act 2003, number of defences can be taken in case oflibel. The burden of proving the defamatory facts are laid on the claimant and he has to provethat the publication made by the newspaper is false. Otherwise, the newspaper will not beliable under the acts of defamation. Further, if the opinion published in the newspaper hasbeen regarded as a statement of opinion and if the publisher can prove that the statements areimportant for public interest, it can be a good defence ground (Lodder and Murray 2015). Theminister is a public figure and any illicit relationship will be posed a great threat for thepublic interest. The current newspaper is also advised to take a defence by proving the factualtruth of the published statement. The newspaper will be held liable under defamation if theMinister can prove that the statements are false. Further, if the statement published in

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