Task Two – Suggested Structure By Catherine McSherry

The Representation Of Religious Beliefs In the world of media today, people from all different backgrounds are represented in particular ways. One of the groups that are often included in the media is religious people, for example, Christians, Muslims, Jewish etc. Many people from different religious backgrounds strongly feel that they are poorly represented within the media. For example, Christians feel that they are very much stereotyped within the media – one of the reasons they feel like this is due to the film The Shawshank Redemption, in which one of the characters is a prison warden who severely mistreats and abuses inmates and constantly makes Bible references to them, as well as handing them their own Bibles. This character is portrayed as a radical Christian, or a Christian extremist, which could initiate a stereotype of all Christians for some members of the audience. Muslims are also a religious minority who feel that they are poorly represented in the media. Since Muslim terrorist attacks are a frequent topic on news channels worldwide today, many Muslims feel that the way in which the news industries represent them could cause members of the audience to form a hatred for all Muslims, and once again, another inaccurate stereotype.

Race Relations Act 1976 The 1976 Race Relations Act was passed in order to create fresh ideas on terms of respect to discrimination on racial grounds. It was also passed to make relations between people of different backgrounds who have experienced racial discrimination before, or could experience it at some point in their lifetime. This law covers certain types of discrimination, for example, racial discrimination, discrimination by way of victimization, meaning of “racial grounds”, “racial group” etc. and harassment.

Privacy Law The term “privacy law” makes reference to the laws which see to the regulation of personal information about certain individuals, which can potentially be gathered by governments and other members of the public, as well as private organizations, and the storage and use of said information. Article 8, Line 1 of The Human Rights Act 1998 states that “everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.” However, Article 8, Line 2 provides that, “there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, or for the protection of the rights and freedom of others.”

The Defamation Law 2013 (Libel And Slander) The word “defamation” is universal to all situations, and it means to damage someone’s reputation. The Defamation Law was passed in 2013, and aims to create a fair balance between the right of freedom of expression, and the protection of the reputation of other individuals. The newest act of defamation (2013) makes a large number of changes to the original law. It includes a requirement for claimants to prove that they have suffered serious harm before suing the individual who has defamed them, abolishes the presumption of a court case, introduces a defence of “responsible publication on matters of public interest” etc. Defamation when written down is referred to as “libel”, and when spoken in conversation, it is referred to as “slander”. Defamation itself is not necessarily a crime, but more so a “tort” (a civil error, instead of a criminal error.) An individual who has experienced first-hand defamation is able to sue the individual who has defamed them. However, in order to successfully do this, the claimant must prove that they have been defamed, for example, present a document containing malicious libel that is injurious or false about them that has been published.