Students from two of Cardiff Met’s leading journalism courses will welcome an NUJ (National Union of Journalists) expert to a workshop this week, to benefit from his insight on Media Law.

In order to ensure Cardiff Met students are as well-equipped as possible for the world of work and that they build a thorough knowledge of the laws and regulations governing their industry; course leaders of the University’s new courses – Specialist Journalism MA and Sport Broadcast MSc – have partnered up with the NUJ Training Wales organisation and media consultant David Banks to run a bespoke workshop covering the main legal issues common to print, online, broadcast and social media.

Banks is a journalist with 24 years’ experience and regularly delivers NUJ Training Wales’ courses on Media Law and Ethics, but this is the first time he has been to Cardiff Met. He is a trainer who has created and managed successful courses in journalism, media law and production journalism. He was co-author of 18th, 19th and 20th editions of McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists. The bible for all journalists when it comes to media law. Banks also writes regularly on law and the media for The Guardian, The Mirror and The Independent. He is a frequent contributor to BBC TV and radio news programmes.

The two-day workshop, which has been specifically designed for Cardiff Met, is also open to NUJ members and will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday at the University’s Cyncoed campus. The workshop will also address privacy and public interest; taste and decency; harm and offence; or matters of libel; defamation; copyright; reporting restrictions; malicious falsehood and contempt of court.

Rob Taffurelli, a film journalist and Programme Director for the Specialist Journalism course, which was introduced in October, said: “Anyone who has seen the current Oscar-nominated movie ‘The Post’ will know how important the right to publish is, and the need to defend that right, along with the need for journalist’s to hold the powerful people to account. But to do that effectively, all journalists need a firm knowledge of media law.”

Sport Broadcast Programme Director Joe Towns, who began the course in October after a career as A Sky Sports and BBC Producer, added: “Good journalism is more important than ever, so it’s vital for our students to appreciate that whilst careers in the media can be exciting and glamorous, there remains an absolute responsibility and obligation to get things right, to be accurate at all times and to have a fundamental and thorough understanding of Media Law and how it affects what you can publish and broadcast. This is also a great opportunity for our students to mix with relevant industry practitioners from the professional media sector.”

Cardiff Met Media Lecturer Dr Nina Jones said: “With the growth of social media and the increase in platforms upon which to broadcast there are endless new areas where a journalist can publish content, and with that comes new risks, and the potential for mistakes, so we are trying to provide our students with the tools to create the best possible journalism and find the best stories, but to do so within the laws and ethical framework of the industry.”

For further details on this week’s workshop, see: http://www.nujtrainingwales.org/events/back-to-basics-law-workshop-cardiff/

Applications for the Specialist Journalism course and Sport Broadcast MSc are open for 2018/19

http://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/schoolofsport/courses/Pages/Sport-Broadcast-MSc-PgD-PgC.aspx

http://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/education/courses/Pages/Specialist-Journalism—MA.aspx