Walking The Line

This week while reading Chapter 13 of "Journalism; Theory in Practice", I started thinking about the thin line between journalism and the law, and how careful journalists must be so they do not overstep the mark.

One of the biggest problems a journalist can face with the law in today's society is defamation. In recent years there has been an increasing change in the way news is reported. The traditional objective 'hard news' is gradually being replaced by the 'infotainment' approach to newsmaking. Granted, this is not only the result of a series of decisions made by editors- it is also increasingly the preference of the news consumers.

However, the risk this gossip-styled news takes is unlawfully defaming someone by reporting a harmful opinion, rumour or scandal. There has been an increased numbers of defamation cases as journalists try to entertain the reader with hyped up articles, exaggerating and in some unethical cases changing or ignoring the real facts of the story.

As mentioned, the nature of journalism is changing with the ‘infotainment’ trend, as well as due to what Bivins calls: ‘commercial bias,’ and he explains that: “Increasingly, the business of news is making money” (2009, pg 232). Investigative journalist Phil Dickie says “News, to an unhealthy extent, has become a commodity sold to journalists, with a wholly familiar emphasis on packaging and marketing providing cover for what is often a distinct lack of content.” (Johnston and Zawawi 2000, pg 32). Newspapers now have whole sections dedicated to letting their reporters (most commonly sport, fashion or entertainment) rant and rave in opinion pieces about the personal lives of their favourite football player, actor or high profile figure. It is this 'personalisation' of news that can become quite dangerous for the reporter as they struggle to find the balance between gossip and truth.

Recently I was shown a coloum by a friend (an avid soccer follower) in which Robbie Slater, a journalist and former soccer player, openly bad mouthed current Socceroo Harry Kewell.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/soccer/the-robbie-slater-column-which-started-the-row-with-harry-kewell/story-e6frg26u-1225906815925

In this column, Slater claims that a player (who remain anonymous) had sworn at Kewell and told him "he was of no value to the Socceroos any more." Kewell felt defamed by the article, denying that the incident took place, and challenging Slater to reveal his source.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJXrGJtJnsI

This is just one example of where a journalist (possibly biased from his own soccer history) defamed someone, which was largely enabled by the opinion-piece style of the article. I believe this case exemplifies how the demand for entertainment from journalists makes the legalities of reporting an even more slippery slope. 

References:

Johnston, Jane. & Zawawi, Clara., 2000, Public Relations Theory and Practice, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, NSW.


Bivins, Tom., 2009, “Ethics in News Journalism,” Mixed Media:Moral Distinctions in Advertising, Public Relations, and Journalism, Routledge.