You
are editor at XXXX magazine and received a copy for an article that your team
intends to publish in next months issue. The story is about a married fashion
designer that claims she had an affair with a famous footballer. It also claims
that the designer’s latest collection was of poor quality and a rip off of the
Chloè A/W 16 collection.
The
designer’s team denies the affair and are worried about the effect the article
will have on her family and career. The designer has told you that although a
journalist had rang her about the allegations. At no point did the journalist
see the collection in question. The designer also said that the journalist was
offended when refused a free handbag. Use
your knowledge of media law to identify any defences the magazine may use and
is there anything the designer can do to stop the article being published
As magazine editor of XXXX magazine I am responsible
for the quality of the content that goes into the publication. My role also
ensures that the content that is published is informative, engaging and
suitable for our target audience. Although it is important to have diversity
and controversial topics in our magazine, unfortunately some of these topics
can involve ‘sloppy’ journalism, which introduces problems for the magazine. It
is in mine and the publications best interest that I read over the articles
that we receive before sending them to print, doing so ensures that the
magazine will not be hit with law suits and reassures that our reputation will
not be tarnished. When we receive articles that we feel are not suitable for
our magazine we try to provide a break down of the reasoning behind the decision
not to publish.
XXXX have recently received an article from a journalist that
had claims of:
· A young
married fashion designer, who was having an affair with a famous football
player.
· The same
fashion designer’s most recent collection was a ‘rip off’ of Chloè A/W 16
collection.
The young designer and her team have since been
in touch with XXXX publication and myself and we have been informed that:
· The cheating
accusations are not true. But she now worries how the article is going to affect
her work and family life.
· The
journalist at no point saw the collection to label it as a ‘rip off’.
·
The journalist was refused a handbag from the
collection.
After being in contact with the fashion designer she
made it clear that one of her biggest concerns are the repercussions the
article may have on her career and personal life after it is published.
Although we cannot confirm the severity of the reaction she will receive, nor
can we predict what will happen to her career, we do offer ways in which she
can protect herself from embarrassment and distress.
The first option for the designer to take, as the
designer is aware of the article, is to take a temporary injunction out on XXXX
magazine. The injunction will serve to protect the designer from the magazine.
If the injunction is received by XXXX before the date of the article being
published the magazine will not be able to publish the article for as long as
the injunction stands.
Although the injunction will protect the designer
from XXXX magazine, this will not stop the journalist from publishing the story
with another magazine or publication. “If a person or an organisation discovers
that the confidential information is due to be published by the media without
their consent, they can apply to a High Court for a temporary injunction to
stop this” [McNea’s essential law for journalists. p.300.] If an injunction is
breached by the publication in which it stands, the other party, in this case
the designer, will be able to take the publication to High Court. “If the injunction
is broken then you can go back to court and apply for your opponent to be sent
to prison. This is known as "committal proceedings." [www.compactlaw.co.uk]. The designer
and her team would have to have significant evidence to prove that the
injunction had been breached by XXXX magazine. The famous football player
will also be within his rights to take an injunction out on XXXX magazine or
another publication who intend on printing the story.
If the Injunction is breached or does
not reach XXXX magazine before the date of publishing, the next option for the
designer will be to look into specific Laws that will protect her and her
career. “Privacy Laws are those
laws which relate to an individual or business entity's expectation to be left
free from scrutiny or public exposure in their daily lives by either the
government or other members of the public.” [https://www.hg.org/privacy.html].
If XXXX magazine decided that the article serves the public’s interest and felt
that it would be suitable to publish, the fashion designer would have the right
to take XXXX magazine and that journalist to High Court for privacy
infringement amongst other Laws in her favour. Although this will not retract the
article from being published or her reputation being modified, she may be
compensated for her embarrassment. ‘Super model Naomi Campbell was only awarded £2,500
damages for distress and injury to her feelings in 2002 against Mirror Group,
after they published a picture of her leaving a drugs anonymous.’ In some
cases the magazine will have to issue a statement apologising and reiterating
the truth of the situation and send this to print in the next issue. The
designer would need to provide significant evidence to court to support her
case.
As well as a privacy infringement, the designer can also take
the journalist to High Court for Defamation. “The law reputation form
unjustified attack” [McNae’s essential law for journalists. p.238.] In this
case the journalist has no evidence on which to base the allegations of an
affair between the designer and a famous football player. If the journalist were
to have provided evidence such as a confirmation from either party or
photographic, the journalist, although the story still wouldn’t be advised,
would have reason to write the story. “In one case Mirror Group Newspapers paid
£15,000 in settlement of a defamation action but then was presented with a
costs bill of £382,000- which was reduced on appeal.” [McNea’s essential law
for journalists. p.43.]
Another point made in the article was that the young designer’s latest
collection was a copy of another designers show, adding, the collection was of
poor quality. From what we understand, after speaking with the designer and her
team, the journalist at no point saw the collection and was in fact refused an
item from the collection after asking. “A claim for malicious falsehood may be brought
against a defendant who maliciously publishes a false statement which
identifies the claimant, his business, property or other economic interests,
and can be shown to have caused the claimant financial loss or to fall within
one of the exceptions in section 3(1) of the Defamation Act 1952.”
[www.out-law.com]. In this case, if the designer where to go to High Court
she would need to explain that the journalist asked for an item from the
collection but was refused this item from a member of the designer’s team and
the article was produced after these events. If the designer can provide
evidence of this then she will be well within her rights to charge the
journalist with malice. The claimant must prove:
·
That the journalist knew that the
relevant statements were false
·
That the article was written in a
malicious way
·
That the article was most likely written
to cause financial or reputational damage to the victim.
Finally, the decision on whether to
publish the article or not is ultimately up to the editor of XXXX magazine.
After deliberating with my team and understanding the repercussions that will
occur after publishing this article, XXXX Magazine have decided against
publishing the article. XXXX Magazine have decided not to publish this article
in the next edition or any more to come until we are supplied with substantial
evidence that confirms the allegations of the affair and that the collection is
a rip off of another designer’s collection.
Bibliography
"Editors'
Code Of Practice". Ipso.co.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
"If You
Want To Sue For Copyright Infringement | Graphic Artists Guild". Graphicartistsguild.org.
N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
"Injunctions
And Super-Injunctions: An Introduction". Inforrm's Blog. N.p.,
2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.
"Journalists
Ethics Code | Ethicnet". Ethicnet.uta.fi. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Nov.
2016.
"Malice
Law & Legal Definition". Definitions.uslegal.com. N.p., 2016.
Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
References
Dodd, Mike,
Mark Hanna, and L. C. J McNae. Mcnae's Essential Law For Journalists. 21st
ed. Print.
"Malicious
Falsehood". Out-law.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
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