Media laws & ethics

1. DEFAMATION LAW

2. WHAT IS DEFAMATION?
 “Any wrongful act or publication or circulation
of a false statement or representation made
orally or in written or visual form which
injures the reputation of a person, tends to
lower him in the estimation of others or tends
to reduce him to ridicule, unjust criticism,
dislike, contempt or hatred shall be
actionable as defamation.” — Defamation
Ordinance 2002

3. SLANDER
 Slander is a false oral statement or representation
that may not have been published. In case the same
is published both the publisher and reporter can be
accused of libel.

4. LIBEL
 Libel by definition is a false written statement
amounting to defamation of another person. It
also includes documentary or visual statement or
representation made either by ordinary means or
expression or by electronic or other modern
means or devices that amounts to defamation.
The libel therefore can be a statement printed,
broadcast or telecast. The person who made the
statement may be charged for committing
slander.

5. EXAMPLE
 “Mr. A has been arrested for corruption”
 “Mr. A has been arrested for alleged
corruption”
 Showing a film wherein a protestor is
carrying abusive slogans against a
person or making derogatory signs with
hands for a particular person, all this will
be considered defamatory

6. EXAMPLE
 Any sound, funny or otherwise that will quickly
remind people of a person being ridiculed or
insulted and therefore defamed, is also a subject
of the defamation proceedings.
 The caricatures of important personalities,
conveying a political satire, should not cross the
limits of decency and ensure that their physical
and personal disabilities do not become a matter
of ridicule in public.

7. NECESSARY PARTIES TO
DEFAMATION SUIT
 1. Plaintiff, who moves the court claiming to have
been defamed
 2. Defendants, which may include following
people
 a. The person who makes the disputed
statement
 b. The reporter who reports the same
 c. The editor, who is alleged, to have either
approved or ignored it
 d. The publisher or the licensee of a radio station

8. DEFENSE AGAINST
DEFAMATION CHARGES
 1. Freedom of expression
 The first and foremost defense against the
charges of defamation is the freedom of speech,
as guaranteed in the Constitution. Article 19 in
the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
deals with the freedom of press and expression.
The constitutional provision says the freedom of
press in Pakistan is not an absolute and
unqualified right.

9. TRUTH OR JUSTIFICATION
The most usual defense against
defamation is to prove that the
statement published is true. Truth is
always an absolute defense. The
journalist or writer can prove that
whatever he has written or said was
established fact. This can only apply
to statements of fact rather than of
opinion.

10. FAIR COMMENT
 This refers to a journalistic opinion
published in good faith. It is not
necessarily an assertion of facts. The
journalist can always prove that the
statement is fair and in public interest, if
and when the situation arises. In case
the defamatory words are a matter of
opinion, the defense of fair comment may
be open to the defendant.

11. PRIVILEGE
 Privilege’ is a defense where the law
recognizes that individuals should be free
to speak their minds (and others to report
what they say) without fear of being sued
even if they get their facts wrong. It
allows people to speak freely in court
proceedings and debates in Parliament,
and allows for such proceedings to be
reported, so long as the reports are both
fair and accurate.

12. ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE
 The journalist is also protected by an
absolute privilege when the statement in
question is one that the government ordered
to be published. It means that if the journalist
republishes the statement, say in a
newspaper or on news -radio broadcast, the
journalist will not be liable for defamation.
The statement is absolutely privileged if it is
a publication of matters such as judicial and
parliamentary proceedings.

13. ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE
Absolute privilege applies to judges,
lawyers and witnesses in legal
proceedings, to MPs for things they
say in Parliament, and statements
made by various officials dealing with
"affairs of state" in performance of
their official duties.

14. QUALIFIED PRIVILEGE
 Qualified privilege holds where the person
making the statement has a duty to do so and
there is a corresponding interest in receiving that
information. Any statement made to the proper
authorities in order to procure the redress of
public grievances shall have the protection of
qualified privilege. The privilege though protects
the maker of an alleged defamatory statement
only if the statement was made honestly and
without malice.

15. PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION
The defendant has a defense if he
shows that the matter complained of
was privileged communication.
Privileged communication includes the
communication between lawyer and
client or between persons having legal
relations.

16. PERMITTED STATEMENT
 Anybody wanting to get his name or statement
unprinted during an interview or while making an
official statement should mention so expressly. In
journalism it is called “off the record.” The professional
ethics require of journalist not to publish such
information. If no such tag has been attached to a
statement, the journalist or the writer has implied
permission to publish everything. To take advantage
of this defense, the journalist has to prove that there
was no express “off the record” intimation from the
person allegedly defamed.

17. APOLOGY
The journalist can offer apology to the party
allegedly defamed through his statement. The
journalist should take this defense only where it
appears that the statement or opinion was not
true and had caused serious damage to other
party. This should be done at the stage of service
of legal notice of defamation to the journalist.

18. IMPRISONMENT AND FINE
 The Court can punish the person guilty of defamation
with simple imprisonment for a term, which may extend
to two years.
 Court can also impose fine on the guilty person. The law
does not define any limit of the fine and it is up to Court
to prescribe it.
 The Court can impose both imprisonment and fine
simultaneously. If the Court imposes fine on the journalist
and he defaults on its payment, the Court may punish
him with simple imprisonment that may extend to six
months. This imprisonment is called “imprisonment in
default.”

19. Defamation
Slander:
Spoken Defamation
(More fleeting)
Libel:
Printed Defamation
(More permanent)

20. Publication: broadly defined
• Articles
• Headlines
• Photo captions
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• Promotional material
• Cartoons