The document discusses slander, libel, and ethics as they relate to documentaries. It defines slander as a false spoken statement that damages a person's reputation, while libel is the same but in written form. It gives examples of documentaries that have been accused of slander, such as ones by Martin Bashir and Umida Akhmedova. It also discusses what constitutes ethics in documentaries, citing memorial projects as ethical but ones like Fahrenheit 9/11 as potentially unethical due to being disrespectful. The document concludes by advising how to ensure one's own documentary avoids slander and is ethical, such as not using offensive jokes and representing all sides fairly.

1. B E N D A V I S
Legal & Ethical Issues in a
Documentary

2. What is Slander?
Slander is where somebody makes a false statement to one or more people that will
damage the reputation of the person they are making the statement about. These can
vary from not very significant to extremely severe, depending on what is said and who
it is said to. Slander is a civil wrong and can be the basis of a lawsuit for the slanderous,
depending on the severity. It is sometimes difficult to resolve a case of slander, due to
the fact that there is normally little evidence to prove that the slander was with
malicious intent, however if the slander is to do with an untrue accusation of a crime,
or a disease, or being unable to perform their occupation then it can be treated as
slander, as the malicious intent is evidently present.
Within a documentary slander can be ranging from subtle indications that the
director/maker is being offensive towards a single person, or in some cases a large
number of people. There have been several instances where this has occurred and it
has sometimes led to lawsuits and in very severe cases it has ended up with prison
convictions. An example where slanderous activities have occurred within
documentaries is Martin Bashir’s documentary on Michael Jackson. He made
statements that were severely offensive towards Michael Jackson, the statements being
false, meaning he was branded a slanderous interviewer.

3. What is Libel?
Libel is similar to slander, but rather than being through oral
communication it is through written/published information. If it is a false
statement and it offends the person that it is directed at then it is
considered Libel and can be punished in the exact same way as slander.
An example of this could be in a documentary that is about Hitler, and the
documentary maker displays a note on screen that is said to have been
published by Hitler himself but it isn’t. This would mean that the
information being shown by the documentary is false and can then be
viable for a lawsuit.

4. 5 Examples of Slanderous behavior within
documentary
1. Martin Bashir’s documentary on Michael Jackson. He made statements that were severely
offensive towards Michael Jackson, the statements being false, meaning he was branded a
slanderous interviewer.
2. “Film-maker Umida Akhmedova was convicted of slander after making a documentary, The
Burden of Virginity, about difficulties faced by women in Uzbekistan.” This documentary was
defined slanderous due to the fact that it was too offensive to the entire Uzbek nation and as a
result she was convicted for 3 years in prison.
3. Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 has been argued to be borderline slanderous, with several
statements that prove to be offensive, however he has never been sued or convicted with
anything to do with that.
4. Louis Theroux is another film maker who has very very controversial documentaries, that have
actually been branded somewhat slanderous by numerous people, however, similarly to Moore
he has never been sued or convicted, this could be due to the fact that he is always very clever
with what he says and doesn’t ever directly insult or offend anyone.
5. Another documentary that is considered Slanderous is Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of
Killing” this is a brutal representation of the gangsters of Indonesia and the genocide of 1956-
66. The reason this was said to be Slanderous is because at times he appears to be insulting the
people that were at one point being threatened by this tyrannous regime.

5. What are Ethics?
Ethics are the moral principles that display a persons behavior, these can
be good or bad, good being ethical, and bad being unethical. Something
that is ethical would be perhaps a memorial for a loss, for example, the
numerous memorial documentaries regarding 9/11, however unethical
would be something that is not regarded as right, or fair. An example of
this is Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, a documentary that appears to be
coming across very unethical and somewhat disrespectful.

6. 5 Examples of Unethical Documentaries
1. Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, a documentary that appears to be
coming across very unethical and somewhat disrespectful. It has been
branded as both borderline slanderous and unethical.
2. Another documentary that is considered unethical is Louis Theroux’s
“Louis and the Nazis” this is seen unethical due to the fact that he is
broadcasting a political party that is clearly frowned upon heavily by
they majority of the world, the fact that the party are heavily linked to
Hitlers actions really sparked controversy and it has been defined
Unethical.

7. What I will do to ensure my documentary
is Ethical and Slander Free
To ensure that my documentary is ethical and slander free I will make sure that
I do not use any offensive jokes that are directed at any single person. I will
only make comedy out of something that has happened on screen and make
sure that it isn't too harsh. I will avoid using any published written material
that I don’t know exactly where it came from and I will never refer to it as
something I know its not. I wont be disrespectful to either academy of the
documentary, being unbiased and fair to both sides.