Changed a lot since the Jethro Tull days....

Excellent session with Ian Anderson on Media Law on Thursday.  However, I do wish he'd occasionally stand on one leg, play the flute and wipe away the snot with his sleeve - maybe he's just not keen to re-live his Jethro Tull days? 



I liked the format of his session which was heavily practical, based on the case of the two men who robbed the post office and shot the dog.  The first thing I realised was that writing news is different from the sort of features and match reports I do.  Listening to the third years I could immediately recognise that news reporting is a skill that needs to be learned - I've started to listen to radio news in a different way over the past few days.

I made the point at the start of the course that I reckon avoiding libelling someone is largely a matter of common sense, and I now also believe that the same probably applies to avoiding prejudicing a trial.  The key point of the session was how to recognise risk, and avoid blundering over the fine line.  Producing pieces referring to the robbery, but as if they were at different stages of the investigation / charging process, was fascinating, and the main lesson for me was to understand just how close to the wind we could sail without coming unstuck.

The main points that stuck were understanding when a case became legally 'active (when the police make an arrest, issue an arrest warrant, magistrates issue a summons, or when charges are made), and the seven things that can be reported pre-trial:

- names, ages, addresses, occupation
- charges
- name of court and magistrates
- names of lawyers present
- date and place to when / where adjourned
- bail arrangements
- whether Legal Aid was granted

Also, understanding the requirements of reporting in court: Fair, Accurate, Contemporaneous and no sound or image recording of events.

It was good to be pointed to the excellent BBC College of Journalism site - I can see it getting some hammer in the coming weeks and months.