Qualified Privilege

Qualified Privilege is based on the circumstances, place and setting of the information that you have received. There is a defence where if the facts are freely known in the public interest then they are useable. The 'Credit Suisse' story on the BBC was where they claimed that their reputation had been damaged. There was a defamatory statement used, however they were able to print this due to the source being named, 'US congregational committee' report. They were covered by qualified privilege through the act of the committee, government or legislature anywhere in the world being a source.

Your information should always be reported fairly, accurately and published without malice, and should be in the public interest. You are able to report what people say in meetings if they are held in public even if they are negative about something or someone. For example in a council meeting, you are not covered by qualified privilege if something you report is said after the meeting has ended. You can then rely on the principle of justification (prove it is true) but it can be harder to do this. When reporting under qualified privilege it is always best to make sure that your story is balanced (allow other sides response).

If something is said in a press conference or if you are handed a leaflet or something at a press conference it is protected under qualified privilege due to the new laws surrounding the act. If you report someone saying something defamatory and the person it is about wants you to report their response, contradiction or explanation you must do this or the privilege is lost. Absolute privilege covers courts and allows you to report on anything as long as it is fair, accurate and contemporaneous.

Part 1 talks about privilege without explanation/ contradiction and allows you to quote anything:

• Court
• Public meetings/ press conferences
• Government/authority published

Part 2 is where there is a requirement to publish explanation/ contradiction if asked to by the person defamed:

• Public meetings
• Local council/ committee
• Tribunals, Enquiry's
• General meetings or UK public companies
• Company documents

Authorities that provide day to day services to the public are not covered such as statements from the gas board, rail companies and the British Airport Authority. A press conference is a public meeting and can be reported on.

Pressers

Pressers are public meetings (Lords 2000) where written handouts are covered by the qualified privilege if they are given out. You should always consider the risks of live broadcasting and what may be accessible to the viewers. If there was a patients group campaigning against the NHS there would be risks to go there and broadcast live. This is because you will be unsure of what everyone will say and there will be a lot of 'wild allegations' around. When broadcasting things such as alleged wrongful convictions, misconduct by police or campaign groups you should be aware when broadcasting live as there is potential to be a lot of defamatory statements. 

There is no privilege outside main proceedings (setting) and reports must be, fair, accurate, without malice and in the public interest.

A recent story that shows this type of reporting is the murder of two women and the dogs that were shot dead. The man arrested had previous convictions for illegal dog breeding but the media at the time this information was found out were told not to broadcast this aspect due to contempt of court. This information was in the printed papers the next day however at the time the story broke out the lawyers for the likes of the BBC told them not to broadcast this information. The term 'lead and license' is when the claimant can sue you for libel but have given you consent to publishing something.

Inquests

These are usually conducted by coroners (court in Southampton). The legal procedure is to establish the cause of death if it appears 'violent or unnatural'. They do not rule on who may be responsible 'on the balance of evidence… verdict'. People give evidence on what has happened in the case. 

In exceptional cases: the deceased was in state detention, the death result of an action by the police, result of workplace accident, can have a jury if the death was more of a public concern such as someone dying in a police cell etc. The coroners rules state that they have to have a jury between 8 and 11 people. 

Types of verdict

Narrative verdict- increasingly common

Short form- natural cause 'accidental death' or drug dependant

Unlawful killing- or 'open verdict' is where they won't say the death was accidental

On the Daily Mail website there are a few inquest stories such as the 13 year old boy that committed suicide by hanging himself due to a a £420 bill on his parents credit card that he racked up via buying xbox games. The report cannot state much other than what it hears in the court. It talks about what the person did and why they did it and then just mentions a fact about another boy from the same school also committing suicide. This is because inquests make good stories however you cannot go into a lot of detail on the outcome as it is limited.

Media Rules

Inquest is a court proceeding protected by qualified privilege. It is also covered by contempt of court so there should be no publishing prejudicial material. The coroners can impose reporting restrictions such as if a child is giving evidence they may not want you to name them. You should also be aware of bereaved families in your coverage and not give all the details.

The coroners are also in charge of treasure and need to decide whether found objects of value are 'treasure' and if you are subject to a reward.