UK media regulation: Some links for journalism students

Here are a few links for a discussion session on media regulation that I used for a discussion with BA Journalism students at Solent University recently.

• The Leveson report: main recommendations

• Hunt says Leveson-compliant regulator will be in place early 2013

• Newspapers fear new regulator could attract 'ambulance-chasing' lawyers

• Public interest: definition needs to be broadened out

• Leveson debate: proposals for exemplary damages criticised

• Leveson: The Information Commissioner responds 

• Hacked Off campaign publishes own Draft media regulation bill 

The Ethical Journalist: a few links

Moral compass by psd

Here's a few links for the sessions on The Ethical Journalist that I'll be running for students at Solent University, Southampton.

It's designed to be a practical application of ethics to accompany some more theoretical lectures.

Once we've defined ethical journalism we'll take a look at:

The Ethical issues behind a recent story:
- BBC coverage of Colonel Gaddafi's capture
- Guardian story on the BBC's use of 'shocking' images
- A round-up of media coverage of Colonle Gaddafi's capture and death

Existing guidelines and codes of practice:
- The Press Complaints Commission Editors' Code of Practice
- The National Union of Journalist's Code of Conduct
- The Ofcom Broadcasting Code

How open and transparent should journalists be about their own interests?
- George Monbiot publishes details of his sources of income
- Jeff Jarvis on 'Transparency is the new objectivity'

Ethical questions behind a series of notable stories:
- Coverage of the July 2005 London bombings
- How the Telegraph paid for information on MPs expenses
- Panorama undercover investigation into abuse at a Bristol care home
- News of the World 'sting' on snooker champion John Higgins
- Telegraph's secret recording of Business Secretary Vince Cable: "I could bring down the government"
- The Law Lords ordering a Mirror journalist to reveal his source in a story involving the medical records of Moors Murderer Ian Brady, his refusal and the outcome of a subsequent appeal

The current debate on media regulation:
-Leveson Inquiry
- Former PCC chair on the Commission's future

Where to find info on journalism ethics

It's appropriate that in the week the PCC gets a new chairman, I get asked to run some sessions on 'The Ethical Journalist' for journalism students.

There've been plenty of recent examples of journalists not applying ethical - or even legal - practices recently.

But I want to have a look at the broader picture too, so I thought it was worth having a quick trawl round to see what other resources I could find. As expected the BBC's College of Journalism's Ethics & Values pages are a good starting point. They look to be choc full of info and handy resources. Thanks, BBC. 

No doubt I will be also using Judith Townend's excellent Meeja law blog as a resource and I'll be reading Andy Dickinson's recent lecture on the subject.

I'm also a fan of PCC Watch, which bills itself as press complaints: the unofficial site and should be a useful companion to the PCC's own site for finding out about recent rulings.  In addition I stumbled across Stinky Journalism, a US site that also covers cases in the UK and other English-speaking countries.

There are plenty of other US sites looking at the subject too. Online Journalism Review offers this handy summary of ethical practices for relative newcomers.

And I'm also likely to be hitting the books. Journalism Ethics and Regulation still looks to be one of the main UK texts. I took a look at author Chris Frost's blog on the subject too, but he doesn't seem to be updating it as regularly as he once was.

Before I go too far with my prep I should probably also take a look at Mediashift's 5 principles for teaching journalism in the digital age. Thanks to journalism.co.uk's tip of the day section for the link.

Let me know if there's any resources to recommend.