Bloggers as Amateur Journalists and Their Position under the Regulatory System of the Press in The UK

Nazli Ismail@Nawang

Abstract


Blogs are web-based publications that are frequently updated and usually shown in reverse chronological order. They play a significant role as ‘watchdog to watchdog’ (mainstream media) by providing information from many sources, revealing media bias and influencing opinion on a wide scale vision called ‘participatory media’. Sometimes, blogs disseminate first-hand reports and details which the mainstream media ignore or have too little preference or time to investigate. Nonetheless, blogs published by amateurs or individuals who are not associated with any media corporations are merely subjected to general laws such as defamation, sedition and many others, but they are currently notregulated by any specific regulatory regime. This uncertainty becomes more complicated as convergence and digital technology have facilitated journalists from the traditional print media to emulate and establish their presence in the blogosphere as well. And these professional bloggers who are directly attached to media establishments and have their blogs appeared on the companies’ websites are subjected to the rules and regulatory controls of the print media which is under the supervision of the Press Complaints Commission (the PCC). As such, this study seeks to highlight the importance and role of blogs in relation to journalism, to analyse the self-regulatory system of the PCC in connection with the governance of blogs in the UK and to evaluate the possibility of applying or extending relevant legal principles and standards to bloggers in the country.

Keywords


blogs, amateur journalists, regulation of the press, Press Complaints Commission, United Kingdom.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Allan, S. 2006. Online News: Journalism and the

Internet. Maidenhead, England: Open University

Press.

Bloggers as Amateur Journalists and Their Position Under the

Regulatory System of The Press in The UK 77

Barendt, E. 2009. Bad News for Bloggers. Journal of

Media Law 1(2): 141–147.

Barendt, E & Hitchens, L. 2000. Media Law: Cases

and Materials. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Beales, I. 2011. The Editor’s Codebook. The

Editor’s Code of Practice Committee. http://

www.editorscode.org.uk/downloads/codebook/

codebook.pdf

Bernal, P. A. 2010. Web 2.5: The Symbiotic Web.

International Review of Law, Computers &

Technology 24(1): 25–37.

Bowman, S. & Willis, C. 2003. We Media: How

Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and

Information .http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/

download/we_media.pdf

Ciolli, A. 2007. Bloggers as Public Figures. Boston

University Public Interest Law Journal 16: 255–

Coad, J. 2003. The Press Complaints Commission -

Some Myths AboutSelf Regulation.” Entertainment

Law Review 14(8): 211–214.

Feintuck, M. & Varney, M. 2006. Media Regulation,

Public Interest and the Law.2nd edition. Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press.

Graham, B. L. 1999. PeterMe Decides the Proper Way to

Say ‘weblog’ is ‘wee’-blog’. The BradLands, May

, http://www.bradlands.com/weblog/1999-05.

shtml/P1925

Hart, K. 2006. Portrait of a Blogger: Under 30 and

Sociable. The Washington Post, July 20.http://

www.washingtonpost.com/wp dyn/content/

article/2006/07/19/AR2006071901900.html

Jordan, B. 2009. The Editors Codebook - The Second

Edition.”Entertainment Law Review20(7): 249–

Kennedy, D. 2005. The Blogging Revolution

Breakthrough, Hype — or Both?Public/Private:

Interactions in New Media, October 13,http://

www.lib.neu.edu/newmedia/dan kennedyessay.

htm

Lasica, J.D. Blogging as a Form of Journalism. Online

Journalism Review, May 24, http://www.ojr.org/

ojr/workplace/1017958873.php [2001].

Lefever, K. & Werkers, E. 2010. Digital Sports

Content: The Rise of New Media Players and the

Legal Consequences in Terms of Obligations and

Liability Risk. Entertainment Law Review 21(6):

–220.

McGonagle, T. 2001. Does the Existing Regulatory

Framework for Television Apply to the New

Media? Iris PLUS, European Audiovisual

Observatory 6: 1–8.

McKenna, L and Pole, A. 2008. What Do Bloggers Do:

An Average Day on an Average Political Blog.

January 1, Public Choice 134(1): 97-108.

Mercado-Kierkegaard, S. 2006. Blogs, Lies and

the Doocing: The Next Hotbed of Litigation?

Computer Law & Security Report 22(2): 127–136.

Merholz, P. 2002. Play with Your Words, May 17,

http://www.peterme.com/archives/00000205.html

Munro, C. 1997. Self-regulation in the Media. Public

Law6–17.

O’Malley, T. and Soley, C. 2000. Regulating the Press.

London: Pluto Press.

O’Reilly, T. What Is Web 2.0. [2005] O’Reilly Media,

September 30. http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/

what-is-web-20.html.

Pain, J. 2005. Bloggers, the New Heralds of Free

Expression. In Reporters Without Borders

(ed.). Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber

D i s s i d e n t s . h t t p : / / w w w. r s f . o rg / I M G / p d f /

handbookbloggerscyberdissidents-GB.

Ribstein, L. E. 2006- 2007. From Bricks to Pajamas:

The Law and Economics of Amateur Journalism.

William and Mary Law Review 48: 185.

Robertson, G. and Nicol, A. 2008. Media Law. 5th Ed.

London: Penguin.

Rosenberg, S. 2009. Say Everything: How Blogging

Began, What It’s Becoming and Why It Matters.

st Ed. New York: Crown.

Russo, M. 2006-2007. Are Bloggers Representatives

of the New Media Under the Freedom Information

Act?Columbia Journal of Law and Social

Problems 40: 225.

Sellars, S. 2011. Online Privacy: Do We Have It and

Do We Want It? A Review of the Risks and UK

Case Law. European Intellectual Property Review

(1): 9–17.

Shannon, R. 2001. A Press Free and Responsible: Self-

Regulation and the Press Complaints Commission

-2001. London: John Murray.

Sparrow, A. 2007. Film and Television Distribution and

the Internet: A Legal Guide for the Media Industry.

Aldershot: Ashgate.

Sullivan, A. 2002. The Blogging Revolution. Weblogs

Are to Words What Napster was to Music. WIRED,

May http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.05/

mustread.html?pg=2

Sussman, M. 2009. Day 1: Who Are The Bloggers?

SOTB 2009. Technorati, October 19, http://

technorati.com/blogging/article/day-1-who-arethe-

bloggers1/

Sussman, M. 2009. Day 2: The What and Why of

Blogging - SOTB 2009. Technorati, October 20

http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-2-thewhat-

and-why2/

Tambini, D.,Leonardi, D. and Marsden, D. 2008.

Codifying Cyberspace: Communications Self-

Regulation in the Age of Internet Convergence.

London: Routledge.

Valcke, P. and Lenaerts, M. 2010. Who’s Author,

Editor and Publisher in User-generated Content?

Jurnal Undang-undang & Masyarakat 16

Applying Traditional Media Concepts to UGC -

Providers. International Review of Law, Computers

& Technology 24(1): 119-131.

Woan, S. 2007-2008. The Blogosphere: Past, Present,

and Future. Preserving the Unfettered Development

of Alternative Journalism. California Western Law

Review 44: 477- 481.

Wortham, J. 2007. “After 10 Years of Blogs,

the Future’s Brighter Than Ever.” WIRED,

December17http://www.wired.com/entertainment/

theweb/news/2007/12/blog_anniversary

Nazli bin Ismail@Awang

Jabatan Undang-Undang

Fakulti Undang-Undang dan Hubungan Antarabangsa

Universiti Sultan ZainalAbidin (UnisZA)

Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu

, Terengganu Darul Iman


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.