1. BA (Hons) Journalism Breaking the Law?
The Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism
BA (Hons) Journalism
Breaking the Law?

2. The Rule of Law
Many jurists and philosophers have debated the purpose of law
In its role in society
In its role in justice
Law is merely a set of rules by which a state is governed
And it is often a failure

3. The Failings of Law
In a complex society it is virtually impossible to have ‘fair’ laws
Some laws are totally ineffective
Many are unfair to individuals or groups
Some even threaten civil liberties
Many result in sever criticism in the media

4. The Wrong Law? State benefits? Anti-terrorism law? Press regulation?
Immigration?
The European Union?
All are the products of law…all are controversial and not supported by all (some would argue not even by the majority)

5. The Press and the Law
The press has a long and fractious relationship with the law
In its earliest years the press broke the law frequently
And it did it in the name of justice
To improve society not to destroy it

6. William Cobbett 18th Century pamphleteer and journalist
A political radical and reformer
Founder and editor of The Political Reformer
In 1810 Cobbett wrote in The Register and article objecting to the flogging of a soldier
He was prosecuted for seditious treason and jailed in the infamous Newgate Prison

7. Cobbett and Sedition
Sedition is the act of encouraging insurrection or rebellion (such as writing an article)
As such it is a threat to order and to the state
Sedition is hardly ever prosecuted today
Sedition was abolished under s.73 the Coroners and Justices Act 2009 for British citizens
But a foreigner can still be prosecuted for it

8. Sedition and Political Change
Cobbett attacked the corruption of government, the prejudice against Catholics, the use of the military to put down unrest and newspapers taxes
The government if the day had increased the tax on a newspaper to 4d putting them out of the reach of the poor
A form of censorship

9. W.T. Stead
William Thomas Stead was one of the most famous journalists in history
One of the most influential
One of the most controversial
Sometimes called the originator of investigative reporting
Sometimes the father of tabloid journalism

10. Attacking the Devil! In April 1871 Stead wrote to a friend…
What a glorious opportunity of attacking the devil isn't it?
As a devoutly religious man he believed his work as journalist was a moral crusade
But can anyone break the law to make the law?
Or… to get a best selling story?

11. Media as Law Maker
Stead is remembered for his moral crusade against the evils of child prostitution
This phenomena was a product of inadequate laws (Offences against the Persons Act 1861)
Laws that Stead was determined to change

12. Media as Law Maker
The media by Stead’s time already had a long tradition of influencing the legislature
Often by ‘underhand’ means
In the mid 18th Century another reformer Henry Fielding used his considerable influence to convince parliament to finance his police force for London

13. Media as Law Maker
It cannot be doubted that the media has always had a political role on changing society
It can be strongly argued that modern democracy is a product not of politicians but of journalists
And recent events have demonstrated yet again how journalists can bring huge political change

14. Media as Law Maker
The Eliza Armstrong case is well known for its sensational impact on the law
A moral crusade in an immoral age
The sensational impact was surely for the good
But can that justify breaking the law?

15. Law and Morality
‘So long as human beings can gain sufficient cooperation from some to enable them to dominate others, they will use the forms of law as one of their instruments. Wicked men will enact wicked rules which others will enforce. What surely is most needed in order to make men clear sighted in confronting the official abuse of power, is that they should preserve the sense that the certification of something as legally valid is not conclusive of the question of obedience and that….,

16. Law and Morality
….however great the aura of majesty or authority which the official system may have, its demands must in the end be submitted to moral scrutiny’.
H.L.A Hart, The Concept of Law (1994)
Who is responsible for this ‘moral scrutiny’?
Do the press have a role?
Did Stead?

17. Scrutiny for Wicked Laws
Stead was a sensationalist
Dramatic effect was a ‘necessity’
So he broke the law to show how easy it was
In the public interest (and certainly of interest to the public)
But his attack on the law was more profound that the staged buying of a child
He attacked the authority of the executive

18. The Outrage
The stories in the Pall Mall Gazette caused a huge moral outrage
The mixture of morality and prurient detail suited the Victorian public’s double standards just as it does today
The Home Secretary feared public disorder asking Stead to tone down the stories
Stead made demands akin to blackmail

19. Public Interest Defence?
“Neither the absence of a corrupt motive, nor the presence of a good motive is any answer to this charge. Is it to be said that the law of the land is to be violated with impunity because the person violating it thinks some good may ensue?”
Mr. Justice Henry Charles Lopes' The Old Bailey (November 7, 1885)

20. Violating Law for the Good?
In a pluralist democracy under the rule of law there are legitimate mechanisms for changing law
Campaigning
Voting
Lobbying
Protesting
And the press has a (legitimate) role to pay

21. Stead’s role in Changing an Unjust Law
The sensational and shocking articles in the Pall Mall Gazette stirred up the Victorian public
But did he need to commit a crime to make the point?
For all the professed morality Stead showed little respect for Eliza Armstrong, her parents or his co-conspirators

22. Stead’s role in Changing an Unjust Law
The legislature of the early 1880’s was no doubt tardy in changing an ineffective and careless law
But as today Parliament had many issues to deal with and the abuse of children was one of many abuses that late Victorian Britain struggled with
The OPA 1861 is still with us and still inadequate

23. The Relevance of the Case Today
Investigative reporting requires an ability to get to the truth
That sometimes requires extraordinary methods
Subterfuge and deceit can be the tools of the trade
And deceit can be criminal!

24. The Relevance of the Case Today
Stead had enormous influence over politicians
In Britain and abroad
Editors dining with Prime Ministers is nothing new
Stead broke the law to get a story (or perhaps to fight evil in the public interest)
The politicians of the 19th and early 20th century were frightened of the media

25. Law and Morality
The debate on law and morality has raged since time immemorial.
Law is ‘a rule laid down for the guidance of an intelligent being by intelligent beings having power over him’
Austin 1832: 18
This is law as an imposition of power
The Law as government

26. Acting in the Public Interest
Stead could not avail himself of a public interest defence
In a pluralist democracy under the rule of law the media has a duty to inform
But not a right to break the law, as it sees fit
It is not in the public interest that an unelected self interest group be given latitude to impose its morality by forcing the hand of the legislature.

29. Breaking the Law
"The Daily Mail took a monumental risk with that headline and in many ways it was an outrageous, unprecedented step. But I'd like to think that as a result we did a huge amount of good and made a little bit of history that day."
Paul Dacre

30. Contempt of Court
The Contempt of Court Act 1981 is designed to protect the administration of justice
It is undoubtedly far from perfect
A fair administration is without doubt in the public interest
As is a free press
Can a free press ride roughshod on the law ‘in the public interest?’

31. In the Public Interest?
Can journalists break the law in the public interest
"Journalism is something that someone somewhere doesn't want published. Everything else is advertising.” Lord Northcliffe
Was Lord Northcliffe advocating breaching secrecy or confidentiality laws

32. In the Public Interest?
“The history of their own trade suggests that democracy has benefited from a knowledgeable and informed citizenry. Society thrives on transparency and accountability”.
Roy Greenslade
In a democracy secrecy is a threat to freedom
But it must be seen in a context of other threats

33. In the Public Interest? The Police as upholders of the law
And the press as monitors of society
And politicians as law makers
Are now all under scrutiny because of a seemingly indifferent attitude to the law
59 journalists have now been arrested over phone hacking and related offences

34. In the Public Interest?
Journalism is in crisis because of the activities of some journalists and editors
The police are in crisis because of the lack of rigour in investigating this at an earlier stage
And because of ‘close relationships’ with journalists and editors
Law breaking now seems to have been very widespred