"There is
much unsettled and unsettling about areas of the law that so profoundly affects
how journalists do their job and how people get their news.” This quote is from Paul McMasters, the First
Amendment Ombudsman for the Freedom Forum, and it really speaks for the general
outlook that journalists have.
Journalists in a lot of ways have to really watch out for what they say,
even though we are guaranteed Freedom of Speech in the constitution. The unfortunate part of it is that while we
do have this freedom, history has brought upon laws that make it dangerous for
journalists to be safe. Sometimes journalists
risk getting jail time or sued over the issues such as slander or libel.
Sometimes I feel
as if being a journalist, you have to walk around on egg shells a lot. Anything from misquoting someone, or using anonymous
sources, to your interviewees saying that it is off the record, is hard to
avoid. The job of the journalist is to
get the news to the people, and give them what they want to hear. It makes our job a little more difficult when
an interviewee wants over half of their interview off the record. It really is just a denial of our first
amendment rights. It’s different if
someone just doesn’t want to be interview at all, but if someone takes the time
to set up an interview but doesn’t give any information, than it’s time wasted
for both parties.
There also come
times when libel and slander mean something different in depending on where you
are. In the U.S. the dead cannot be libeled;
however in the U.K. the dead can be libeled. Sometimes even repeating a statement that is
considered defamation can be turned around, and said to be libelous because you
are speaking it.
Where Public
Relations people come in, is when a public figure or a company is suing for
libel or defamation. The case involvingDavid Beckham suing In Touch magazine
for claiming that he slept with a prostitute is a good example of this. When a magazine makes such
a claim on someone of such caliber it has the potential to hurt both parties in
many ways. First, if the writer did lie about
this, the magazine would be under much scrutiny for their actions and could end
up being sued for millions of dollars.
If David Beckham actually did do this, then his PR person would have to
cover up what he has done with either denial or apology. Either way, both parties have the potential
of getting hurt, which is why sometimes I believe these laws are good.
There are many
magazines that put celebrities’ lives at stake, simply by making one statement
in the magazine that they write for. I
think sometimes the law really does help for some celebrities’ who are just
looking to have some privacy every once in a while. If a magazine comes out with a false story
just to get people reading, they forget sometimes that it has a major affect on
that celebrity. Stories such as saying
that a celebrity is cheating on their wife, or that they are on drugs, or have
a drinking problem. In these cases, the
story should actually be true instead of inferring something based on what
someone may have seen. In many ways, I
believe that celebrities’ have a right to privacy, but they are really limited
to what they can do. The subject does
have relation to the First Amendment as well as libel and slander because many
celebrities are faced with this issue in regards to what they do in their day
to day lives.
From what I have
learned, it is very difficult to be a journalist, which is why I like to stick
more to the Public Relations side of things. Based on all the articles that I have
read you have to be very careful when it comes to writing news stories, because
even one bit of information that is incorrect can be very costly. All of the cases that come from libel and
slander all seem to be a little more difficult to rule upon when it comes to
the jury and judge, mainly because the words are spoken or written. There is not really anything that illegal
done, but even a simple statement can get you into trouble. There have been times in some of my classes
where I have not been completely honest when it comes to a quote or maybe even
a part of a news story. While I told
myself it was just for a class, I know that it could really lead to a lot of
trouble in the future. The First
Amendment sounds appealing when you first read it, but when you really delve
deep into it, it’s not as easy as it sounds on the surface.
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