INTRODUCTION
Journalists are busy people.
With the clock tick-tocking, they must navigate the law of libel, contempt, privilege, copyright, breach of confidence and official secrecy.
This book is meant to guide, comfort and support journalists. Although they may chafe against the many legal restrictions, they should know that they can do and say a lot within the law.
With a better understanding of their legal rights, journalists can go about their business with greater confidence, knowing when to yield and when to stand firm.
This book is no substitute for the services of a competent and experienced lawyer, but with this guide, journalists and their editors or producers should be able to hold their own in war rooms. Media lawyers can be scarier than editors.
The Commonwealth Caribbean countries whose law has been primarily described are Antigua and Barbuda; the Bahamas; Barbados; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; and Trinidad and Tobago. Reference is made to relevant law in Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands.
Some difficulty was encountered in obtaining up-to-date information on particular aspects of the law in the various jurisdictions, and any shortcom- ings in this regard are mine alone. The book focuses on the existing law in the region rather than policy and reform and the actual how-to of journalism, although some recommendations are made.
The book begins by placing journalism in a constitutional context and ends with an overview on damages for defamation and a glossary of legal terms. It describes our legal systems and the hierarchy of courts, which every journalist should strive to understand, whether or not assigned to the court beat. In particular, Newsroom Law seeks to demystify libel law, including the Reynolds public interest defence that has put fresh emphasis on what consti- tutes “responsible journalism”. Other chapters alert journalists to the legal
pitfalls in covering Parliament, elections and court cases. The chapter on investigative journalism seeks to answer common questions such as whether photographers may use telephoto lenses to capture people in private areas like their bedrooms, and whether it is ever okay to break the law (such as bribing a public official) to expose a greater wrong (such as corruption).
Newsroom Law does not attempt to cover every nook and cranny of media law but rather concentrates on the most relevant and bothersome areas that generate discussion and, at times, befuddlement in the newsrooms.
It is not a study of ethics, but journalism is nothing without ethics, and where the law leaves off, ethics must step in. In acknowledgement of this rela- tionship, the book includes as an appendix the revised code of ethics of the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers.
Although this book is aimed primarily at journalists, it is hoped that lawyers and law students, too, will find a space on their shelves for it.
