Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property = Individual moral issue

The MEAA alliance says members engaged in journalism commit themselves to Honesty,  Fairness,  Independence,  Respect for the rights of others.

Using someone else's work implies moral/personal ethics and professional ethics.

Borrowing the words of others v. stealing the work of others; quotes, statements, questions etc (i.e. press releases)

Intellectual Property Law

Plagiarism is enforced by the Australian authorities.

The law of copyright - Significant for the use of other people's work and for the protection of your own work.

Copyright law is embodied in the Copyright Act (1968)

The 4 most significant parts of Copyright are Part 3, 4, 5 & 6. See page 359 of the book for references to Copyright.

Copyright stays active for 70 years once the author or copyright holder dies. Once expired the works can be used without seeking permission from the copyright owner.

Author of a work - Person who has created the work, not the person who has thought of an idea. An idea itself cannot be copyrighted in Australia, however this may differ depending upon the country.

Journalists working for print media own the right to reproduce their work in a book for photocopying purposes but the media employer retain all other rights (e.g. reproduce the work in electronic databases or online)

Freelancers usually hold rights for all uses but need to verify their contracts (rights can also be conferred on the publisher)

Key considerations to reproduce the work of others

Has copyright period expired? Has the copyright holder 'assigned' copyright to you = transfer of ownership (you NEED a written proof of assignment). Copyright holders can also 'license' you to use the material (permission restricted in time)

Defenses

Three main categories - Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review, fair dealing for the purpose of news reporting, fair dealing for the purpose of parody or view.

The Australian Copyright Council (ACC) states that 'criticism and review involves making a judgement of either the copyright material used or the underlying ideas expressed in that material.'

Journalists whose primary reason for publication is to report the news can reproduce a reasonable prtion of copyright material.

According to the ACC news is not limited to current events. 'Old material or footage that was never related to a current event, may be relevant to a current news event' (significant for investigative journalist)

Music to accompany news items: must obtain permission (blanket licenses)

Use of audio visual items 

Part IV of the act advices how one may use audio visual items, fair dealing offences apply.

Division 4 of the Act: deals with the duration of copyright for these items.

Disputes on copyright can be resolved amicably.

Trademarks

Trademarked logos are not able to be used on blogs or websites without permission from the holder.

S.52 of the Trade practice Act 1984 protects intellectual property for those who feel their work has been misrepresented.

Action of passing off can be brought against someone who has falsely represented their work or business as that of the plantiff. Issue that also arose in the Internet environment with domain names.

Did you just say Microblogging?

You may of heard of blogs, an article or something that’s shared on the web which is usually opinionated or on a topic that is normally of interest to the person writing the piece. Well, microblogging or micro-blogging is a short statement, which is usually less than 160 characters and is shared on the writer’s profile or site specifically setup for microblogging.

If you haven’t caught on by now, Twitter is a microblogging platform that originated way back in 2006. If your like me, my Twitter usage normally is a flood of tweets one week and than a drought comes where I  have nothing of value to share, until now.

Last week I stumbled across a microblogging platfrom that’s opensource and can be setup on any webserver capable of running PHP and MySQL.

Status.net is a microblogging platform which allows people in a community or a single person to share 140 character message over the web. It’s similar to Twitter, Jaiku and Plurk except customizable.

To see the installation of Status.Net setup on home.autechnet.com‘s virtual server visit status.nickosullivan.id.au.

Status.Net's official logo

21 Years Old - Growing Old

I woke up this morning and I was a year older, 21 to be exact. Yeap, it's been 21 years since I wandered into this world.

As 21 years of age is the birthday everyone has a major celebration and stereotypically shares random or embarrassing moments, I thought I should share some of these with you.

Embarrassing Photos... 

It all started from 6am on my birthday with an image of me taken straight after finishing the Townsville Road Runner's half-marathon in 2011. Yes, I trained like made for a few months last year and completed my first marathon in just over 2 hours which is right on par with my average.

21st Birthday Classified of Nicholas O'Sullivan the Townsville Computer Man

 As I'm in class right now I shall complete writing this entry, perhaps at the end of the day. 

Confidentiality, Sources, Privacy & Intellectual Property

Keeping sources confidential when asked by a court or parliament to reveal them can be punished (fine, jail)

"Aim to attribute information to its source. Where a source seeks anonymity, do not agree without first considering the source's motives and any alternative attributable source. Where confidences are accepted, respect them in all circumstances." ~ MEAA - Article/Point 3. 

Confidences - Very sensitive issue for AUS journalists. Ethico-legal paradox, Disobedience contempt v. moral obligations.

A breach of confidence is not just an ethical issue though to breach confidence is to break the law.

The law protects confidentiality for lawyers/solicitors but not for journalists. 

Breach of Confidence - A three=point test to determine whether there has been a breach of confidentiality. The circumstances in which the information was imparted must have given rise to an obligation of confidentiality. 

The disclosure of information, even if by accident or mistake will not make a difference for breach of confidence. 

Confidential Information - Can be verbal, written, expressed or implied contract. 

Government information which is not of public relevance / public interest should not be shared. Only if it is of public interest.

Defences to Breach of Confidence

• Legal compulsion: order of the court to disclose information.
• Just cause or excuse: 'justified disclosure' (usually information relating to a crime or a fraud). Breach of confidence in the public interest. 
• Fair report.
• Protected disclosure: disclosure to one specific class of people may be considered in the public interest. 

Disobedience Contempt - Refusing to reveal your sources... No escape clauses in journalism code of ethics or conducts. Commonwealth Evidence Act and Shield laws are similar but no equivalent of the US Journalists' legislation. 

Newspaper Rule - A publisher defendant will not be compelled during...

Protections of publishers against plaintiffs on a fishing expedition. Would protect publishers / authors. 

Crikey (page 15) has a paper located here on Newspaper rule - The best reason for the application of the “newspaper rule” to defamation proceedings so that publisher defendants will not be compelled during preliminary proceedings to disclose the sources on which an article depends was best summarised by Dixon J in McGuiness’s case:

"the special position of those publishing and conducting newspapers, who accept responsibility for and are liable in respect of the matter contained in their journals, and the desirability of protecting those who contribute to their columns from the consequence of unnecessary disclosure of their identity (at page 104). 

In Australia, an exemption from privacy law applies for news-gathering activities only if the reporter and editors can demonstrate that they have established and follow an in-house code of conduct covering matters of personal privacy. 

There is still no real clear definition on what a Journalist is as bloggers etc are changing the defintion.

Readings for this week are Chapter 11 & 12. 

JN2301 - Assignment 1 - Producing a Radio Bulletin

The first assessment for JN2301 didn't come until just before lecture recess. We were tasked with either producing one story with multiple angles or producing a news bulletin with multiple stories and at least 2 grabs.

I opted for the easier option - producing a news bulletin with multiple stories. This is probably due to my belief that it's unlikely you'll be given an opportunity to produce a lengthy radio news story being an hourly news bulletin radio anchor.

The bulletin I produced was for UCB Radio Australia (Vision Network) that produces hourly news bulletins for stations radio stations around the country, including 99.9 Live FM (a local station in Townsville).

The stories I featured for the chosen day, being 20 April 2013 are listed below:

• Boston Marathon Bombings - Second Suspect Arrested. 
• More asset sales in QLD.
• A different kind of church service.
• NAB releases charitable giving statistics

Download a copy of my assignment from Google Docs here and here.

Above: Bob Beasley the event organiser of a 70 year memorial service of what it would of been like to be in war struck Townsville in 1943.

Defamation

"The wrong of injuring anther's person reputation without good reason or justification; calumny; slander or libel."

Defamation Law - First act 1846, 1 January 2006 Uniform Defamation Laws (Defamation Act 2005)

Still notable different in jurisdictions on what Defamation is. 

'defamation matter' - Can be in many forms, articles, reports, artworks, verbal or any other medium.

Three things need to be present for Defamation - Publication, Defamatory imputation and Identification. 

Publication - The act of making something known to another or making it available to be known to another. Applies to broadcast and also applies to those in the public.

Defamatory Imputation is not exactly defined in Australia's act - Anything which may shun a person or effect their reputation.

If one of those aspects are missing there is no way you can be sued for defamation.

Meanings - Literal meanings of words is important for the writer or you as a journalist should exercise care and respect the literal meaning of words. 

Innuendo is also important for you to be aware of when the words or the way a sentence is phrased can convey an innuendo. 

An innuendo may be a simple inference. It may also require proof of some extrinsic or outside fact.

Legal Innuendo and True Innuendo

Defences to Defamation - Like in the case of contempt, your 'intention' in the area of demation is not an issue. 

In other words, you may not have intended contempt or to publish something defamatory about someone, but that is no defence.

• Person's with the same name can sue for the person your writing about within the story. 
• Someone meeting the description of a person who hasn't been named in the report can sue. 
• If reports refers to a small group of people of whom the plaintiff is a member or a representative, this person can sue (even if he/she has not been named) 
• Fictious character has been named. 
• Misspelling a name.

 Limitation Period - With reform laws an individual has now only a year to take defamation action after the publication of the material.

Defamation Laws are not there to restore a person's damaged reputaiton as a person's reputation cannot be restored, it's rather compensated.

Common misunderstandings - Journalists do not get sued for defamation - Incorrect! It is easier for people to sue a journalist than a media organisation. Media organisations in some cases won't protect you once you're taken to court. 

Forget Poor people don't sue - You'd be supried. 

Truth is your best defence - Unde law, 'truth,' 'substantial truth', or 'contextual truth' are defences you may claim. 

In a philosophical sense the notion of truth is debated. 

In the context of DL if you can demonstrate that what you've said is the case, that there are facts and evidence to reveal it, then you may be able to establish a defence of truth.

Contextual Truths, Public Interests is usually one of the best defences. 

Criminal Defamation can result in both civil and criminal prosecutions.

News Bulletins

Produce a radio news script and a podcast. Prepare news copy and demonstrate and understanding of how to lay it out etc. Submit script and any information for interviews.

Due 22 April via CD, email or Dropbox.com.

Tips and Tricks of the Trade (See week 6 readings)

• Dullness is a sin. 
• Look for detail/hooks that bring a story to life. 
• Be simple, leave complexity, obscurity and vagueness to others. 

A phrase that makes a story vivid and alive. 

Make the story conversational - Tell the listener the story and the events. 

"The university is flooded, James Cook, after all the rain," is better than, "JCU is flooded after heavy rain."

The top-line should prepare the listener for the events to come. Don't tell the whole story in the opening sentence - One idea per a sentence.

Language and Grammar

Use specific words, "red or green" not "brightly coloured"

Use Concrete Words - "rain or sunny" not "bad weather"

Use Plain words - "began says, end, not commenced." 

Don't overuse emotive words - "staggering, sensational, tragic or tragedy."

Avoid - Unknown quantities - Very, really, quite.

The word 'incident' unless directed - use murder, shooting, robbery. 

Absolutes - Quiet impossible, glaringly obvious.

Just - "just got back, "just returned from..."

It is becomes It's

He is becomes He's

Do not becomes Don't

Abbreviation is okay.

Punctuations - Avoid Commas and full stops - Always use dots for punctuation.

Has an audio transcript - http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2013/s3729600.htm

Names - Full names no prefix needed... Barrack Obama, Julia Gillard. 

              Subsequent mentions need a prefix Mr Obama, Ms Gillard. 

              Criminals and celebrities, sports people are not entitled to a prefix.
              The Queen the full title - HRH.
              

Avoid Offense - Policemen, Fireman, Ambulance men, Housewives, Spokesman/Spokeswomen, chairman, Homosexual. 

Should be Police Officer, Fire-Fighters, Ambulance crew, Shoppers, Spokesperson, Chairperson - never the chair or Gay.

Topline (provide the context for what follows)

"Town planners plan to life building restrictions on the Strand..."
Expand the top line
A good middle paragraph sets the stage for audio.

"Mayor Jenny Hill... told Townsville Fm she wont support plans... to increase building heights on the Strand."

Cue Layout

The date, the reporters name or initials, the name of the story (slug), The cue itself, The duration of the audio cut, the outcue of the audio cut, the total running time of the cue, any notes, News Boss Does it all.

Week 6 - News Presentation

A phrase that is added to many advertisements as a requirement for jobs in radio news, "... and a good microphone voice" But what is a good microphone voice?

Allot of it is down to interpretation however a local radio station would usually much rather employ a local accent compared with possibly employing someone say that's an American to read radio news in Townsville.

When commercial radio first started in 1973 radio stations employed journalists alongside news readers. Today stations often have one person that does it all.

Aside from voice news readers must possess an ability to convey information accurately with correct tone, emphasis and speed.

Checking and rehearsing a script is never a waste of time. By reading a script beforehand you can spot unfamiliar words and replace or practice words your unfamiliar with.

A news reader would sometimes replace the word 'rural' with 'countryside' if they always have difficulty pronouncing 'rural.' This saves the embarrassment of being caught out on air.

Also you should be careful with the sentences such as the below which can prove problematic to listeners.

'Chelsea scored two goals, Tottenham one/won'
'He was discovered lying dead by (rather than beside) the telephone box.

Even an experienced news reader sometimes also has the intro and outro phases written down, as if things go wrong it is hard to recover. It has been known for newsreaders to use the name of the station they used to work for, or even forget their own name.

Keep level - Keep your voice level and compressed - Strong rises and falls in your tone of voice will puzzle and maybe annoy the listener. Sentences usually rise in the middle and go down towards the end. The trick is to avoid speaking down to the audience.

Tone - Tone is vital for your presentation. Need to sound authoritative, yet natural.

Pronunciation - Local places names on local stations must be pronounced correctly. Getting the name of a local person, business man, suburb of place insults your listeners, it is also damaging to your reputation.

Specialized Presentations - Mainly commercial radio stations have a news reader that interacts with the radio DJ. These personality readers often just speak the news in a conversational manner. 

Ambulance Dispatchers hung by the media

When you dial 000 you expect the emergency medical dispatcher to have the skills and training required to assist in your time of need however according to the Courier-Mail dispatchers are too focused on their food instead of helping their patients.

A follow-up article by the Courier-Mail on 1 April claimed a man died after medical dispatchers wrongly classed his injuries as non-life threatening, which resulted in the wrong class of paramedics being dispatched until 40 minutes after the initial call. However the Courier-Mail neglected to mention that that the first Ambulance unit was on scene within 15 minutes as previously stated in an earlier story on the 30 March.

Ambulance dispatchers hung by the media.

This tactic of covering up details of a story to entice readership is commonly seen with media outlets. The outlet's 30 March story received over 140 comments while their 1 April story has so far received 180.

Follow-up statements from the Department of Community Safety (DCS), have condemned the allegations denying that the QAS attempted to cover-up the case.

"The QAS proactively reported this incident to the Office of the Coroner on the same day it occurred," a statement on the DCS website read.

"The QAS also notified the Health Quality and Complaints Commission (HQCC) of this incident and commenced an internal investigation."

 The HQCC after reviewing the incident agreed that public safety issues had been identified all maters had been resolved and therefore no further action was taken in relation to the incident.

"Although public safety issues has been identified, all matters have been addressed internally, therefore the HQCC have decided to take no further action in relation to this incident," the HQCC wrote on the 18 July 2012.

The HQCC later closed the case on the 8 of August saying although there was a delay in the QAS response time, Mr XXX's injuries were un-survivable.

"Given the findings of the Forensic Crash Unit and those of the QAS, it is considered the holding of an inquest is unnecessary," the coroner said in correspondence with the DCS.

"The investigation has revealed how Mr XXX suffered his injuries.

"Although there was a delay in QAS response, his injuries were un-survivable and any delay did not change the tragic outcome.

 "In any event, recommendations have been made by the QAS to endeavour to provide that occurring in the future."

How well trained are our medical dispatchers? 

Queensland medical dispatchers have one of highest training requirements for EMDs. EMD's hold at least a Certificate III or IV in Ambulance Communication.

A source from the QAS said communication centers have continuous quality assurance programs in place.  

"Communication centres undergo continuous quality assurance and score very highly when benchmarked globally," the source said.

"The important thing is that when we are open about our shortcomings when they occur and learn from them."

Peter Furler heads North to Townsville

Singer and songwriter Peter Furler, co-founder and ex-lead signer of the Newsboys has just finished rocking out at both Easterfest and churches in New Zealand and Townsville.


Last weekend Peter Furler's solo tour with his band saw him feature in the line-up at Easterfest which also included popular christian pop bands Dc Talk, Audio Adrenaline and his former band the Newsboys. However that wasn't Peter Furler's last performance in Australia instead he traveled to Townsville for a gig at a local baptist church on Easter Sunday.

Peter Furler - Phil Joel & Paul Colman - Images by Nicholas O'Sullivan

Promoters Live FM arranged for Peter Furler to come to Townsville and play with his five piece band that also featured artists from Furler's past Paul Coleman, George Perdikis.

Furler and George Perdikis both founded the Newsboys in 1985 and until last weekend hadn't played together for 22 years. While Paul Colman in 2006 joined the Newsboys as their lead-guitarist before being replaced by Jody Davis in January, 2009. It was later that year that Furler announced his departure from the Newsboys.

After performing at Easterfest on Saturday Peter Furler said he had a great show at Easterfest but later tweeted his Australian tour was a moment to savor.

"AUS Tour = Great fellowship, Quality time with family and friends. You never know when or if it will happen again so you savor every moment," Furler tweeted.

Peter Furler's next stop is home followed by performances around the US until mid-August where he will be promoting his current album, 'on fire.'

Defamation

Defamation is the wrong harming or damaging of a person's reputation. It is a tort (civil wrong). Defamation laws protect people's reputation - their 'good name.' Actions for defamation can be taken even if there is no course of justice.

How to Identify Defamation - 3 major things necessary for defamation to occur; publication, imputation, identification.

For Defamation to occur there has to be an act of publication making something known to another or making it available to be known to another.  Applies to broadcasting. Defamation laws can also be applied to the public. What is PUBLISHED cannot be unpublished.

Defamatory Imputation - Australia's uniform Defamation Act does not spell out what defamatry imputation is. Basically it is anything that may disparage a person's reputation, cause ordinary people to think less of a person, hold a person up to ridicule, cause other to think something of a person that may not necessarily be true. All these = defamation.

Defamatory Identification - A person claiming that they have been defamed will have to be able to establish that he or she can be identified in connection with the offending material. This does not mean that it is necessary to name people to identify them.

Who cannot be identified - Groups and organisation cannot be defamed (up to a point)

Who cannot be defamed - Corporations of less than 10 people, non-profit organisations and individuals can be associated with larger companies.

Companies, corporations or public bodies barred from taking defamation actions can still sue for negligent misstatement, injurious falsehood, and breaches of the Trade Practice Act.

How can Defamation occur - You do not need to write or say something to publish a defamation. Mime, Street Theatre, Painting, Cartoons = All capable of conveying defamatory information.

The meaning of words - This is a landscape littered with traps for the unwary... Your intentions and intended meaning do not matter and will not stand as evidence within a court.

Literally stating the meaning of the word - Mrs Smith is frequently beaten by her hushband.
Mrs Smith's wife is frequently observed to be battered and bruised.
Mr Smith's wife is frequently observed coming in and out of the hotel on the corner.

Watch a Media Watch episode that was featured in class - Andrew Bold and the Herald Sun on Trial.

Taste of Peter Furler at a Mini-Easterfest in Townsville

World renowned Australiam Artist Peter Furler born in McLaren Vale, South Australia has just finished his Australia fly-in tour to perform at Easterfest and several other locations on Australia's East Coast including Townsville.

On Resurrection Sunday Peter Furler along with other Christian music legends Paul Colman and Phil Joel performed at Northreach Baptist Church to their Townsville fans.

Some would describe the concert as being a short of 'mini-easterfest' others would call it a once off that'll probably never happen again.

I had the opportunity of photographing the performance at the request of Live FM - Townsville's Christian music station. 

Peter Furler - Phil Joel & Paul Colman - Images by Nicholas O'Sullivan