What do I need to know?

 

Almost all the questions come down to a basic discussion of the regulation of the Press. Does self-regulation work? What are the advantages/disadvantages of self-regulation? You should be ready to answer these questions. You should revise the following: 

To see all the past papers, go to:

Why is press freedom a concept to which people attach importance/value?

Still not sure what Freedom of the Press is?

Wikipedia – Freedom of the Press has some excellent definitions and very useful historical background

1. informing the public
2. scrutinizing government
3. staging a public debate
4. expressing public opinion 

 

What are the ideas behind self-regulation (what are the advantages of operating this system)

Here’s the PCC’s own version of why they are so good. Read a defence of their work in The Guardian.  

Still not sure what self-regulation actually means, read this?         

Not sure what the PCC actually is, check out this lovely page and this one. For a more objective summary, try this one.

For a full-length explanation of its work and a justification for its existence, read the PCC’s recent submission to the Select Committee Inquiry on Press Regulation.

The PCC FAQs page is also pretty useful. It is particular important that you read the ‘Philosophical Section’ at the bottom of the FAQ page. You can see a list of the Commissioners too.

 If disaster has struck and you have lost your copy, check out the PCC Code of Practice. You can also look at past adjudications and resolutions of the PCC here. You need to know the difference between the two.

See the results of a recent NOPI public opinion survey on press regulation.

Read about how the PCC have extended their re-mit to cover newspapers’ online sites, and how one MP is suggesting that the PCC model should be applied to the internet more generally.

What are the disadvantages of self-regulation?

Read this criticism of the PCC, and this criticism too. 

Facing probable legal action, Express Newspapers apologised to the McCann family for the ‘utter falsity’ of its reports. Edgar Forbes has seen this as an example of the rich being able to afford to protect themselves (by threatening legal action) whereas the less well-off do not really get any protection from the PCC.

Here are some arguments for/against the PCC. 

Does the PCC just need to be reformed rather than scrapped?

Read this article, and take a look at Sir Christopher Meyer’s views on reforiming the ‘pretty weird’ system of regulation that is currently in place:

You should be aware that a Select Committee of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is conducting an enquiry into press self-regulation. Find out more about it here. If you have a chance, read pages 4-5, 7-11, 25-33 and 35-37 of the report. You will find it very useful.  

In what other ways is the press regulated (libel, Official Secrets Act, D-Notices etc)?

What are the advantages/disadvantages of a legalistic approach (libel etc). What are the disadvantages?

There is some good material on the disadvatages of going to court at the bottom of the PCC’s FAQs

You need to know something about the legal situation.Libel/Defamation Laws–         

• The possible threat of libel action often makes editors withdraw stories.

Here’s a good summary of the legal situation regarding defamation (libel and slander).

 

 

There are some specific areas where newspapers cannot tread and these are protected by law. D-Notices and the Official Secrets Act restrict the coverage of material that could jeopardise national security. The criminal law also restricts freedom of expression in cases of blasphemy, obscenity, indecency, racial hatred. To read more on this, read this d-notices  

International Background/Context – Not crucial but might be interesting.

 To have a quick overview of which countries don’t seem to tolerate press freedom you can use the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. Reporters without Borders has fought for press freedom since it was founded in 1985.  According to this list, the UK is ranked 28th in the world for press freedom.

Countries with the worst records on press freedom are: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Vietnam, China, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Burma, Cuba, North Korea.

Plenty of controversy has surrounded Google’s cooperation with the Chinese authorities. Read more about Censorship of the Internet across the world and in China. 

Here’s that article I discussed about press restrictions in Saudi Arabia. You can read a whole load of other articles about press freedom (or the lack of it) around the world here.