Page 293 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
2. The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about
individuals in hospital or similar institutions.

7. Misrepresentations
1. Journalists should not generally obtain or seek to obtain information or pictures through
misrepresentation or subterfuge.
2. Unless in the public interest, documents or photographs should be removed only with the
express consent of the owner.
3. Subterfuge can be justified only in the public interest and only when material cannot be
obtained by any other means.

8. Harassment
1. Journalists should neither obtain nor seek to obtain information or pictures through
intimidation or harassment.
2. Unless their enquiries are in the public interest, journalists should not photograph
individuals on private property (as defined in the note to Clause 4) without their consent;
should not persist in telephoning or questioning individuals after having been asked to
desist; should not remain on their property after having been asked to leave; and should
not follow them.
3. It is the responsibility of editors to ensure that these requirements are carried out.

9. Payment for articles
Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information should not be made directly
or through agents to witnesses or potential witnesses in current criminal proceedings or to
people engaged in crime or to their associates, which includes family, friends, neighbours
and colleagues, except where the material concerned ought to be published in the public
interest and the payment is necessary for this to be done.

10. Intrusions into grief or shock
In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries should be carried out and approaches
made with sympathy and discretion.

11. Innocent relatives and friends
Unless it is contrary to the public’s right to know, the press should generally avoid
identifying relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime.

12. Interviewing or photographing children
1. Journalists should not normally interview or photograph children under the age of 16 on
subjects involving the personal welfare of the child in the absence of or without the
consent of a parent or other adult who is responsible for the children.
2. Children should not be approached or photographed while at school without the
permission of the school authorities.
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