Law is a bore

I cannot leave the HCJ module behind without a small obituary.
Essentially the syllabus encouraged us to be more knowledgeable, well-read individuals; we covered history, philosophy and economics. We studied music, literature, and art.
We developed our interests and our intellectual habits. Horrie didn’t seem interested in producing a class of students able merely to regurgitate text books onto paper in exams, he wanted to invest something in us that would keep and grow, that seed he planted was curiosity.
These ceaselessly curious minds that Horrie cultivated have now to reign themselves in, away from Joyce, Marx and Wagner, take leave of art and return to what really makes a journalist, FACTS.

Facts, just like the law can be dry and unimaginative, but it’s with a journalist’s knowledge and curiosity that the facts come alive.

If a journalists mind is like a book, with knowledge imprinted on every page, then there should be a whole chapter on Media Law.
This chapter is a tool, an essential tool to help journalists report fairly and accurately.
This knowledge on law is what sets us apart from other members of the public who produce citizen journalism to varying degrees of success.

The senior law lord, Lord Bingham emphasises the importance of the press and the requirement for it to be informed and diligent ‘The proper functioning of a modern participatory democracy requires that the media be free, active, professional and enquiring’.

In order for the press to meet these requirements, aspiring journalists must be conscientious in reporting according to the law. This blog, from now on, will follow areas of the law vital to any budding reporter or broadcaster.