REGULATION PRESENTATIONS

1 Alfie, Sarah

https://theday.co.uk/stories/zayn-pain-as-singer-takes-new-direction
Why should we care about paparazzi culture?
The accounts of many celebrities have been hacked and their privacy destroyed.
Zayn Malik, 22,  decided to leave One Direction in 2015 explaining that he wanted to lead a ‘normal life’ away from media scrutiny. Do celebrities like Malik deserve to be treated with more respect by the press?

Celebrities, who owe much of their fame and money to the tabloid press culture, cannot have their cake and eat it. If celebrities are careful, they can manage their publicity. What’s more, privacy is a privilege, not a right. As the controversial PR guru Max Clifford admits: ‘If you use the media, you can’t complain too much when the media uses you.’

But Malik is a 22-year-old who has been thrust into the limelight on the back of hard work and talent. Doesn’t he deserve to have his private life kept out of the public eye? And had the press not interfered, he would probably still be part of One Direction. As Malik explained: ‘I don’t want to live a life where everything I do is put on the internet and dissected.’

Malik is the latest in the long line of celebrities who have had their private lives scrutinised, some would say persecuted, in the media. Earlier this month, in a development of a long-standing case, X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos declared that she was suing The Sun after the newspaper claimed she dealt cocaine.

In cases of severe intrusion, celebrities often receive compensation when the press has meddled in their private affairs. In May 2011 actress Sienna Miller won £100,000 in damages from the now-defunct News of the World after herphone was hacked by the newspaper. Two months later the newspaper closed down when it was revealed that it had illegally obtained information on celebrities, royals, politicians and the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

The Zayn Malik case gives an insight into the pressure of being famous, particularly at such a young age. It can help us understand the complex relationship between the media and celebrity. One Direction and Zayn Malik have extraordinary influence, so Malik’s actions may lead to people reassessing their view of paparazzi culture.

Tulisa Contostavlos

A singer-songwriter and television presenter usually known simply as ‘Tulisa’. Once a member of hip-hop group N-Dubz, she was stitched up by the The Sun’s so-called ‘fake sheik’ journalist. The Sun claimed she was a cocaine dealer but drug charges against her were later dropped.

Phone was hacked

A UK controversy in which newspapers within the News International group owned by Rupert Murdoch illegally infiltrated private mobile phone messages. A newspaper within the group, the News of the World, folded as a result. One of the consequences of the scandal was the commissioning of the Leveson Inquiry, a report by Lord Justice Leveson into the culture and ethics of the press which set out guidelines for regulation.

Milly Dowler

13-year-old girl abducted and murdered on her way home from school in Surrey in 2002. The News of the World hacked into her voicemail while she was missing, an act that helped further tarnish the newspaper’s reputation and led to its closure.

2 Tom, Lucy

https://theday.co.uk/stories/six-years-in-prison-for-sharing-fake-news April 2018

Six years in prison for sharing fake news

Malaysia has introduced a controversial new law to combat 'fake news'. The bill’s definition of fake news is incredibly broad, describing it as “any news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false”. Offenders are defined as anyone who “knowingly creates, offers, publishes, prints, distributes, circulates or disseminates any fake news”.

Professional news sites, blogs and personal social media accounts are all covered by the law. Many see the bill as an attempt by the government to crack down on dissent and silence political opposition ahead of upcoming elections.

Professional news sites, blogs and personal social media accounts are all covered by the law. BUT Many see the bill as an attempt by the government to crack down on dissent and silence political opposition ahead of upcoming elections.

How to define 'fake news'?

There is currently no law specifically banning “fake news” in Britain. However, newspapers are mainly regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation which states that the press must not publish “inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text”. In practise, those who break this code are usually asked to publish a correction or make an apology.

6 Charles Gordon, Rosie Brown

https://theday.co.uk/stories/judge-sends-press-politics-and-police-to-stocks
Why is it essential that what newspapers report is as accurate and fair as possible?
Are newspapers still so relevant now as decades ago? Did the Leveson report look at online media? Is that easy to regulate?

Leveson's report on the ‘Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press’ was published – and the troubling reality behind some of Britain’s most powerful people and institutions was exposed.

The Inquiry – chaired by Lord Justice Leveson – was born from scandal. What scandal?

Leveson remained optimistic about the Press: 

‘I know how vital the press is,’ he said, as he announced the publication of his report. ‘The press operating freely and in the public interest is one of the true safeguards of our democracy’.

Some share that optimism. Largely, they argue, the problems of the press are down to foolish mistakes, selfish behaviour and short-sighted misjudgement. Leveson’s report, they say, identifies that human error causes corruption: by cracking down on these individual slip-ups, we can reform our troubled press.

Others disagree. When newspapers are run by large and powerful companies bent on increasing their sales, they say, of course the press will be dominated by seedy reporting and sinister political influence. It is not individuals, they say, but institutions that created this mess.

7 Martha, Max Green

Murdered Teenager's Voicemail Hacked by Tabloid

https://theday.co.uk/stories/murdered-teenager-s-voicemail-hacked-by-tabloid

The latest chapter in the story of phone hacking at the News of the World has shocked the UK: a missing girl's phone messages were listened to, suggesting to police she was alive.

Until now, some members of the establishment have held off from condemning Rupert Murdoch's media empire for its involvement in illegal hacking of mobile phones.

But this week, as it emerged that private investigators working for the News of the World had been listening to voicemail on the phone of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler, condemnation was near-universal. The fact that the police investigation may have been misled into thinking she was still alive because there was activity on her mobile account, has prompted widespread anger.

Why haven't the police investigated this alleged hacking if it happened in 2002?

Questions have been asked about whether police and tabloids have an unhealthily cosy relationship. Milly Dowler's name was in the paperwork seized from the private detective who was sent to jail in 2007 for breaking into mobile voicemails of royal aides.

Why do the readers put up with this behaviour?

Bluntly, people buy newspapers with scandalous stories in them.The News of the World can call itself Britain's biggest selling paper because its readership is nearly seven and a half million.

But surely this has crossed the line?

That's the consensus. Dialling into someone else's mobile and picking up their messages is illegal. When it's done by a newspaper to an ordinary citizen, disrupting a missing person search, it becomes even more shocking.

5 Georgie, Nathan, Thea

https://theday.co.uk/stories/phone-hacking-trial-reaches-dramatic-climax

Phone Hacking Trial Reaches Dramatic climax

Story behind the phone-hacking conspiracy - BBC News Video

It all began in 2005 when royals and celebrities accused theNews of the World of hacking into their private voicemails in order to obtain salacious stories. But the paper claimed that just a few ‘rotten apples’ were responsible.

Brooks walked free from the Old Bailey after being found not guilty of four charges, including plotting to hack phones. Coulson was found guilty of conspiring to hack phones while at the now defunct newspaper. 

The crisis reignited when allegations emerged that staff at the newspaper had hacked into the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. It sparked a wave of public revulsion that forced Brooks and Coulson to resign.

The verdict on Coulson has also damaged the prime minister David Cameron, who hired the tabloid editor to lead the Tory party’s media operations in 2007. Cameron has been obliged to apologise.

Some believe the outcome of one of the most expensive criminal prosecutions and lengthy police inquiries in history has drawn a line under the phone-hacking scandal. Six journallists out of the eight charged have pleaded guilty or been found guilty of phone-hacking. Two were sent to prison.

Why should I care about the trial’s outcome?

The scandal has thrown up all sorts of issues that are important to our everyday lives. Public opinion is influenced by what is read in the papers, so those in charge have a duty to be fair and impartial. There have been calls to regulate the press, but opponents warn this could lead to censorship and give politicians too much power over what papers publish.

Why would anyone hack a phone?

Quite simply for a ‘good’ story. In its heyday, the News of the World was Britain’s biggest selling paper with a readership of nearly seven and a half million. Formidable pressure was put on journalists to do whatever it took to find a good scoop, even if that meant breaking the law and destroying people’s lives.

4 Charles Clements, Max Ragan

https://theday.co.uk/stories/prime-minister-takes-the-stand-at-leveson-inquiry

Prime Minister takes the stand at Leveson Inquiry

3 Lucas Keech, Yue Chun

https://theday.co.uk/stories/uk-newspapers-face-toughest-ever-press-code

UK Newspapers Face Toughest Ever Press Code

Maddie

Press Regulation in the Age of Fake News
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/23/press-regulation-in-the-age-of-fake-news