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Radio
News, Reporting and Production
MCM515
VU
LESSON
44
ETHICS
& LIMITATIONS OF MEDIA
Obligations
of Media to the
Society
Media
should be:
Truthful
Accurate
Objective
Relevant
Free
but self-regulated
Following
the agreed codes of Ethics and
Professional Standards
Domain
of Freedom of Media
Article
-19 of the constitution
reads:
"There
shall be freedom
of press (media). It
will however be subject to any
reasonable restrictions imposed by law in
the
interest
of the
glory of Islam, or the
Integrity,
Security or Defense
of
Pakistan, or any part of it, friendly
relations
with
foreign
states, public
order, decency
or morality
or in
relation to the contempt
of court,
defamation
or incitement
to an offence."
It
is quite obvious from the
above-written article of the constitution
of Islamic republic of Pakistan that
the
media
is free in Pakistan but it
must follow certain lines of
responsibility that it owes to the
religion,
country,
people, and the culture it belongs
to.
Analyzing
the article we come across the
following set of purposes of this
article:
1)
The
protection of Islamic values
2)
The
respect of all the sects of
Islam
3)
Integrity,
Security and Defense of
Pakistan
4)
The
respect of Ideology of
Pakistan
5)
The
respect of Minorities, their
beliefs, their rituals
6)
The
protection of social Norms
and Values
7)
To
respect and honor the
Foreign Policy of Pakistan
8)
Maintenance
of Decency and avoidance of
Vulgarity
8)
The
honor of the Courts must be
protected
9)
Defamation
of any individual or group of
persons is to be avoided to safeguard
their repute,
honour,
and respect.
Contempt
Of Court
Lord
Russell's Definition
"Any
act done or writing published calculating
to bring a court, or judge of a court,
into contempt, or to
lower
his authority is a contempt of court.
Further, any act done or
writing published calculated to
obstruct
or
interfere with the due
course of justice, or the lawful
process of the courts is a contempt of
court."
Situations
of Contempt of Court
The
following are the situations in
which a media person or organization
has to face the case of
the
contempt
of court.
1)
The competency of a judge is
challenged.
2)
Honesty of judge is
challenged.
3)
Comments on the proceedings of a pending criminal or
civil case affecting the judge, or
parties, or
witnesses.
115
Radio
News, Reporting and Production
MCM515
VU
4)
Comments affecting, making or shaping the
public opinion for or
against a party to the case in the
court.
Defamation
Defamation
may be defined as:
"The
publication or broadcasting of a
statement which tends to
lower a person or a registered
company in
the
estimation of right-thinking members of
society generally; or which
tends to make them shun or
avoid
that
person."
Types
of Defamation
There
are two types of
defamation.
Libel
Slander
Libel
A
libel consists of a defamatory statement
or representation in permanent form,
i.e., in black and
white.
Slander
If
a defamatory meaning about a person or a
registered company is conveyed by
spoken words or
gestures,
it
is slander.
Defamation
in case of Radio
1)
The
defamation is slander if the broadcast is
without script.
2)
The
defamation is libel if the broadcast is
made from a written script
or recorded tape.
Who
can be defamed?
1)
A living person can be
defamed.
2)
A corporation, firm, organization,
company, partnership that is registered
with the government.
Who
cannot be defamed?
1)
A dead person.
2)
An illegal company.
Elements
of Defamation
The
following are the elements of
defamation:
·
The
words must be defamatory.
·
The
words must refer to the plaintiff,
i.e., the injured party or
person.
Interpretation
of Defamatory Word
Words
must be understood in a defamatory sense whether or
not believed in by the listeners.
Defenses
of Defamation
The
ways how a journalist or a
news organization can avoid the
charge of defamation are as under:
1.
Justification or truth
The
reporter or the news organization has to
prove that the defamatory
statement is based on
truth.
2.
Fair comment
The
reporter or the news organization has to
prove that:
1)
The defamatory words are in
the interest of the public.
2)
The defamatory words have
been put on air without any
malicious intention.
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Table of Contents:
- WHAT RADIO IS:HISTORY OF RADIO, MARCONI –THE INVENTOR
- HISTORY OF RADIO:B.B.C. – 1922, Radio in Sub-Continent, PBC SERVICES
- OBJECTIVES OF BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN:Information, Islamic ideology
- NEWS VALUES I:CONFLICT, PROGRESS, VICTORY AND DEFEAT
- NEWS VALUES II:TIMELINESS, PROXIMITY, NOVELTY, HUMAN INTEREST
- NEWS VALUES AND ELEMENTS OF NEWS:MISCELLANEOUS NEWS VALUES
- MEASURING THE IMPORTANCE OF NEWS:Intensity of an Event, NEWS STORY TYPES
- TYPES OF NEWS STORIES II:SIMPLE TYPES, ILLNESS, DEATH
- TYPES OF NEWS STORIES III:Conspiracy, Drug Trafficking, Lunar Months
- TYPES OF NEWS STORIES IV:COMPLEX NEWS, Forms of Government, Monarchy
- TYPES OF NEWS STORIES V:Education, Research, Religion
- TYPES OF NEWS STORIES VI:Lifestyles, Receptions, Entertainment
- SOURCES OF NEWS I:Network of Reporters, QUALITIES OF A REPORTER
- SOURCES OF NEWS II:MONITORING, NEWS/ PRESS RELEASE
- SOURCES OF NEWS III:National News Agencies, HARD NEWS, SOFT NEWS
- REPORTING:ORDER OF REPORTING, REPORTER’S QUALITIES, Well informed
- A SUCCESSFUL RADIO REPORTER:Briefing, Reporter’s Ammunition, Meeting Deadline
- INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING I:Growth of Interpretative Reporting
- INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING II:Factual Background, SPEECH STORY
- INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING III:FIRES & ACCIDENTS, CRIME STORIES
- INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING I:Thalidomide Scandal, Watergate Scandal
- INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING II:Identification of the problem, INTERVIEW
- TYPES OF INTERVIEW:Hard News Interview, Informational Interview
- ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW I:Comments and Opinion, Topic must be specific
- ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW II:Preparation of the Interview, Language
- RADIO NEWS GLOSSARY:Actuality, Cut, Voicer, Wrap, Hourly, Lead
- FUNDAMENTALS OF NEWS WRITING:Inverted Pyramided Style, Telling the Story
- FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING NEWS FOR RADIO I:Language
- FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING NEWS FOR RADIO II:Complex numbers
- ESSENTIALS OF A NEWSCASTER:Authority, Credibility, Language, Pronunciation
- PRODUCTION AND PLANNING:Principals of Planning a Program
- PRODUCER & BUDGETING:Strengths of a Radio Program, Budgeting a Program
- JARGONS OF PRODUCTION (Continued):Frequency spectrum, Dead studio
- TYPES OF TALK:Qualification of a Talker, Essentials of a talk, Vetting a talk
- DISCUSSION:Controlled Discussion, Live Discussion, Current affairs
- DISCUSSION:Selection of the TopicKnowledge of the Topic, Narrowing down the topic
- RADIO FEATURE:Sound Effects, Narration, Dramatic Feature, Religion, Personalities
- RADIO DOCUMENTARY:Commentary, History, Persons, Things, Phenomena
- DRAMA:Solo plays, Series, Serial, Soap, Components of Drama
- SPECIAL AUDIENCE PROGRAM:Children’s Programs, Women’s programs
- SPORTS PROGRAM:Live Programs, Recorded Programs, Preparation of OB
- THE MUSIC I:Folk Music, Classical Music, Light Music, Pop Music
- THE MUSIC II:Classification of Raga In Terms Of Notes, Aado, Khaado
- ETHICS & LIMITATIONS OF MEDIA:Domain of Freedom of Media, Defamation
- RECAP:What Radio Is, Timeliness, Elements of news, Types of Reporting, Production