Newsgathering (LAWS70428)

Whether journalists serve collectively as some citizen-informing ‘fourth estate’ or act instead merely to satisfy the consumer desire for entertainment, they need access to information. Journalists rely upon being able to disclose or convey content that is unavailable to, or at least unexploited by, others. Some will obtain this information by fair means, others by foul. The core aim of this course is to consider how law and other forms of regulation influence pre-publication behaviour.

The course reviews a range of news and information gathering practices, and assesses the extent to which such behaviour is facilitated or proscribed by law and/or regulation. The themes in the course will be taught through the comparative review of English, Australian and United States law. Dr Andrew Scott is a senior lecturer in media law at the London School of Economics.

Principal topics will include:

• The relationship between newsgathering practices and constitutional guarantees of free speech
• The protection of sources and materials (in principle; in the context of crime, terrorism and official secrets; payment of sources).
• Access to government information (freedom of information; news management)
• Journalism and justice (access to the courts and court documents; cameras and other technology in court; access to prisoners; policemedia interaction)
• Surreptitious and invasive methods (harassment; subterfuge and secret recording; entrapment; regulating the ‘dark arts’ – hacking, blagging and tapping; a ‘law-breaking privilege’?)
• The influence of publication torts on newsgathering.