In Praise Of: Stargazing Live

The BBC's recent programme, Stargazing Live, fronted by Professor Brian Cox and comedian Dara O'Briain, was a fantastic introduction to the night sky.

The BBC has a good record with astronomy, with many Horizon episodes dedicated to the subject and the classic Sky At Night. However, whilst The Sky At Night is tucked away on BBC Four with little to no promotion and Horizon usually fronted by uncharismatic boffins, Stargazing Live was a great attempt by the channel at getting the subject out to a wide audience and in a format that would appeal.

Cox and O'Briain should be familiar to audiences. O'Briain as host of Mock The Week and Cox for his recent show Wonders of the Solar System (and for those slightly older and a knowledge of dodgy 90's pop music, as the keyboardist from one hit wonder D:Ream).

Many TV shows would've had Cox as the obviously brainy one and O'Briain dumbing himself down so much that you'd think he wasn't capable of tying his shoes. Gladly, this wasn't the case as O'Briain, though obviously lacking the knowledge of his counterpart, had been given some astronomical facts to remember, giving Cox the chance to fill in the finer details. It's to the credit to both of them that this combination worked like a D:Ream (sorry, couldn't resist).

As for the show itself, it was able to give out a wealth of information about astronomy for both beginners and those with an already decent understanding. I like to consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the subject and even I was learning new things. Personally, the section on photographing the nights sky was invaluable as I'd always wanted to know how to get good pictures.

Alongside that was the bumbling adventures of Jonathan Ross and his suffering teacher Mark Thompson. Contrasting someone so incompetent such as Ross with someone as knowledgeable as Thompson helped to not only provide a nice bit of comedy, but also helped to explain complicated subjects such as setting up a telescope or navigating your way round the night sky in simple terms. Along with Thompson was their "reporter in the field" Liz Bonnin, who as well as being rather cute was enthusiastic about the subject and helped to show the important work going on over in Hawaii.

I'm really hoping that the BBC decide to have another go at this later in the year. Cox recently finished filming the follow up to his Wonders of the Solar System (imaginatively titled Wonders of the Universe), so in theory should be free. Plus, the night sky changes as the year progresses, so it's not like they'd be treading on old ground. The only issue I could see is the long days would require it to be either pre-recorded or on late at night. Regardless of what they choose, I really do hope that they give it another go.

Law Lecture 7 - Codes of Practice

As with any job, journalism is subject to set Codes of Practice.These act as a way of creating consistency between journalists. They also help to create and build trust between journalists and their audiences. Journalism has three main codes:

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which is for papers and magazines

The Office of Communications (OFCOM), for broadcasters

BBC Trust, for regulating output on the BBC.

The reason why these codes matter so much is because they help guide journalists through any ethical issues that they may face and how far it is that you can go.

The PCC is often seen as a toothless tiger. It's self-regulated and has little in the way of impartiality. Whilst it acts as a place to send complaints, in many cases these aren't acted upon (such as the Jan Moir article on Stephen Gateley after his death). It acts as little more than a deterrent as it can force retractions and apologies from editors in their newspapers.

In contrast, OFCOM is far more authoritative. OFCOM has the ability to hand out heavy fines to broadcasters it feels have broken its regulations. For example, it fined ITV £5.6million for the vote rigging scandal several years ago. Beyond fines, it can prevent broadcasters from airing repeats, forced airings of apologies and in worst case scenarios removing their broadcasting license.

For the BBC, the BBC Trust is responsible for upholding the BBC's guidelines. They deal with complaints made directly to the BBC and investigating whether there was any wrongdoing. These guidelines are available to the entire public and serve as a referral to all BBC workers and other journalists. This ensures it has a very user friendly site.

Law Lecture 6 - Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act is one of the greatest tools available to journalists today. It covers 130,000 organisations and government bodies, receiving 100,000 requests a year and at a cost of £34million. It allows anyone, not just journalists, the ability to ask for information kept by these bodies and for it to be published. Curiously, only 12% of FOI requests actually come from journalists.

The act covers pretty much everything except when there's a valid reason to not hand the information over, such as official secrets or confidentiality. These "exemptions" are Absolute and Qualified (like privilege). Absolute exemptions relate to official secrets, the Ministry of Defence etc. Qualified exemptions are for things such as ministerial communications and commercial confidentiality. Whilst these are a hinderance as a journalist, there are still plenty of opportunities to uncover great stories due to the FOI Act like the expenses scandal.

Many journalists see now as the Golden Age of the FOI. There's still a treasure trove of information buried away, waiting to be enquired about. In order to combat this, politicians are no longer writing things down to avoid it being "on the record". Such 'on the sofa' politics has allowed for informal chats as opposed to formal meetings where minutes etc have to be kept.

Law Lecture 5 - Copyright

Copyright is an exclusive legal right given to a person who has printed, published or otherwise created something that belongs to them. It could be either physical or intellectual property, but the important fact is that it belongs to that person. The purpose of copyright is to protect the creators of this property. Because of this, copyright infringement is technically stealing. You are able to use a limited amount of another person's work (if it's credited or if it's for the purpose of reviewing). Ignorance to this is no defence and will see you fined for copyright infringement.

Fair dealing is something used by journalists in order to use other peoples work in their own work. However, this work cannot be passed for your own and the usage must be fair and only a small portion of the whole work. Whilst video and to an extent text can be fair dealed, photographes are exempt from fair dealing.

Law Lecture 4 - Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality is probably the second most important thing (legally) a Journo must be aware of after defamation. Under Section 8 of the Human Rights Act, even citizen has a right to privacy. However, whilst people have this right, that doesn't mean reporters are suddenly prevented from reporting about celebrities and other public figures.

There are no problems with publishing pictures (for example) of people for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if that person is on a clear public duty. One famous example in regards to privacy issues related to this. The Princess Caroline of Monaco, legally prevented photographers from taking her picture. One exception to this was if she on a clear public duty (the example used was if she was handing over the trophy at the European Cup final).

Secondly, it's okay to publish pictures if there's consent. This can come either as implicit or explicit. Implicit is when there hasn't been a signed contract, but when someone has posed for the camera or given some hint that they're okay with being photographed. Explicit is when there has been a verbal or written agreement that pictures are okay to be published (such as during fashion shoots etc).

Confidentiality is something that everyone has unless they have signed it away. It's applicable where people to have a reasonable expectation to confidentiality, such as at the doctors or in a private meeting. Curiously, parents are expected to maintain a degree of confidentiality with things their children tell them, but it is not the same the other way round.

Unlike defamation, which is easier to prove, breach of confidence is harder. For something to be confidential, there has to be:

The necessary quality of confidence

AND circumstances imposing an obligation (i.e. a reasonable person would expect something to be kept in confidence such as medical issues at a doctors)

AND there is no permission to publish the information

AND there is a detriment likely to be caused to the person who gave the information (they have to PROVE they've been damaged).

Law Lecture 3 - Defamation

Defamation is the act of either slandering or libelling someone. There are four criteria in which this is measured:

*Causing someone to be lowered in the estimation of right thinking people

*Causing someone to be shunned or avoided

*Disparages someone in their business, trade or profession

*Exposes them to ridicule, hatred or contempt.

As such, it makes it very easy to sue for defamation as all you have to do is prove one of those points. However there are some defences:

*Justification: What you say is true and you can prove it.

*Fair comment: Honestly held opinion based upon facts or priveleged material in the public interest.

*Absolute privilege: Reporting accurately what is said in court.

*Qualified privilege: Police quotes, press releases etc.

*Bane and antidote (defamation removed by context): Removing defamation later on in a story.

*Apologies and clarifications.

You have no defence when:

*You've not checked your facts

*When you've not referred up

*Not putting yourself in their shoes

*Get carried away by a spicy story

*Not bothered to wait for a lawyers opinion

It's crucial to be able to recognise risk as a journalist. Recognising risk can save you a lot of aggravation and potentially a lot of money. Consider who you're writing about and whether or not they're capable of suing. Chances are a postman in some county miles away isn't going to sue (although that doesn't give you an excuse to defame him), but someone like Elton John probably would. If you must write it, be certain you have a defence. If you aren't sure, ask a lawyer. More often than not, they aren't going to mind.

A Tale of Tuition Fees

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", especially if you're a Liberal Democrat. On one hand, high profile members of the party such as Nick Clegg and Vince Cable occupy cushy Cabinet roles. On the other hand, failure to back up their pre-election pledge on tuition fees has seen support for the party collapse. A YouGov poll from this weekend puts the Lib Dems on a miniscule 10%. Compare this to their pre-election highs of 20%+ (when they were boosted by the live TV debates) it's been a spectacular fall from grace.

A lot of the press regarding the tuition fees protest last week quite

rightly focused on the damage to the Conservative party's HQ at

Millbank. What the press didn't focus on so much was the chants from the crowd before the violence. Among the more polite was: "Nick Clegg we know you, you're a fucking Tory too!"

It's fair to say that students feel as though they've been betrayed by the Lib Dems. This fact was compounded by the leaked documents that revealed that the Lib Dems wouldn't be able to maintain the tuition fee pledge if they were elected. To say that Nick Clegg is, politically, a dead man walking would be one heck of an understatement.

To make matters even worse for Clegg and the Lib Dems, the National Union of Students have revealed they will launch a campaign to remove Clegg and other top Lib Dems from office. Even IF the coalitions lasts the distance and survives five years and IF these dreadful past few months are forgotten by the public, it sure as hell won't be forgotten by the Labour party. They'll ensure that there's no easy ride and all this will get dragged back into the limelight to show the the Lib Dems can no longer be trusted.

For Nick Clegg, life is bleak. Hated by students, not trusted by his party, seen as a lapdog to the Tories by the public and little more than a teaboy to the Tories themselves. Clegg's political life, which promised so much before the election, has now stumbled its way to a masochistic dead end.