[cma-l] Profanity

[Richard Berry]

I'd echo Olly's point here about training. A full discussion about  
Libel, Copyright and Contempt must be part of your training for every  
presenter. It's kind of like asking someone to come and drive your car  
without having read the highway code, they might know what all the  
buttons in the car do but without the knowledge of the law of the road  
they could be in trouble!

We run a briefing session before each RSL and will I am sure introduce  
a rolling programme when we go full-time next year. It's so easy to  
make mistakes if you don't know what the risks are and if you're truly  
worried about libel then you will put procedures in place. Whilst not  
a total defence if you've made sure that everyone is fully trained and  
will refer matters of concern upwards and know that screening callers/ 
guests is important and also what to do if something does happen then  
that will put you on the right side of the law.

As Olly says someone will only sue if they stand to gain something  
from it, financial or otherwise. I can't see that being an issue for  
you.

A delay may be useful but only if you plan controversial phone in  
programmes, where people might swear etc But again it's down to  
someone knowing when to push the button and the £1500+ these systems  
can cost could be better spent somewhere else, like in training for  
example.

All the best

Rich
Utopia FM


Senior Lecturer in Radio
Admissions Tutor
The Media Centre, Sunderland
0191 515 2239
www.sunderland.ac.uk/radio





On 22 Feb 2008, at 11:36, Olly Benson wrote:

> Hi Steven,
>
> My experience (primarily from student radio) is that libel insurance  
> is
> a waste of money, on three counts.
>
> One, the insurance is based on risk.  The risk is based on the
> likelihood of your presenters saying something libellous.  Thus how do
> you calculate that risk?  If the risk is high the premium is high (and
> therefore a large proportion of your income); and if the risk is low
> then the premium is low (and arguably pointless).  Having libel
> insurance introduces a safety blanket for presenters; and therefore  
> they
> become more risk-careless ("its ok, we've got insurance if we say
> something libellous").  Most student stations I worked with I  
> suggested
> that it was much more cost effective to do appropriate training rather
> than take out libel insurance.
>
> Secondly, the payout in libels is often decided based on the ability  
> of
> the claimant to pay.  Thus someone with a meagre income would be
> expected to pay less than someone who had a large salary.  If you
> introduce the concept of insurance; you increase the figure you  
> would be
> expected to payout in the case of libel.
>
> Thirdly, no-one sues a charity.  The negative press would usually be  
> far
> more damaging than the original allegation.  In all my research of
> student media, there was only one case of a libel action being bought
> and that was dropped prior to going to going to court.  I would be
> interested to know if there has been any libel action (more than a  
> vague
> threat of words) against community media.
>
> What I would say, is as above, train your presenters about what is
> libellous; and create a culture where a "could this be libellous?" is
> referred up to senior management to make a decision. We shouldn't be
> scared to criticise or highlight malpractice; but we should understand
> the risks and take them as we would any other risk management.  And  
> as a
> management; understand libel and have a good *media* lawyer or senior
> journalist as someone you can use as a sounding board.
>
> And bear in mind contempt; which I actually think is a bigger risk to
> community stations than libel.
>
> Check out: http://www.rad10.com/news/so_sue_me/
>
> On the profanity button... my personal feeling is that it is a waste  
> of
> money to build it in wholesale.  If there are specific times when you
> think it might be important (eg coverage of a live event) then there  
> are
> techniques you can use to delay the sound but again it's much better  
> to
> build in prevention strategies than rely on someone remembering to  
> hit a
> button.  I'm not sure how many stations still actually use delay.
>
> Olly
>
> On 21/02/2008, Steven Suttie <stevensuttie at aol.com> wrote:
>
>     Dear CMA Members,
>
>     I wonder if you can advise me on two important topics;
>
>     1: What kind of Libel Insurance does your station have...who
>        provides it, how much etc.
>
>     2: Do you use a profanity delay system at your station?
>
>     I'm looking at purchasing both and would really appreciate any
>     advice.
>
>     Many thanks.
>
>     Kindest Regards
>     Steve Suttie
>     Station Manager, 94.4FM Salford City Radio
>     0161 793 2939 (Office) 07772 355852 (Mobile)
>     CHECK OUT http://www.salfordcityradio.org
>
>
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