There are laws in which journalists have to stick to when it comes to publishing their research.
For example the law of defamation: allow people who consider that their reputation has been or may be harmed by statements made by others to sue for damages or to prevent the publishing of the statements. Laws such as this are put in place in order to protect people however of course it is not always successful.
If a person does decide to sue for damages or prevention then the researcher is liable for the damages, in other words they are legally responsible for the damage that is caused by their actions.
There are also laws within publishing that state that whatever you publish has to be based on fact and cannot solely be the opinion of the researcher.
So when publishing research it is surely at the researcher’s own risk? They risk breeching ethical guidelines on research as well as laws that are set in place.
It depends on how is doing the research and the reason behind the research, if the research is done by a major company then the single person that is doing the research can surely not be the only one at risk? There must be things that the company can do if someone is going to sue that researcher if it is their job.
ReplyDeleteThe statement about "however of course it is not always successful" adds questions into what research is really law breaking. Some people will see different research as a breach against them others now, does this mean a small comment on someone that is not that harmful can be taken to court? or does it have to be a lot of information?
"There are also laws within publishing that state that whatever you publish has to be based on fact and cannot solely be the opinion of the researcher." Links to ross's comment on a different post about newspapers, the information in newspapers is not FACTS this is why they can get always with printing information about people
I still maintain that there should be laws about what can be ETHICALLY printed and published because whether or not the story for example is true or not it can still be damaging to the persons involved.
ReplyDeleteWhich is generally why papers seem to always be being sued for damages and always losing.
After researching into this topic a little more, i believe Ross has a very strong point after this report...
ReplyDeleteCristiano Ronaldo wins libel damages against Daily Mirror
Cristiano Ronaldo has won substantial libel damages and the majority of his legal costs from Daily Mirror publishers MGN Limited after it admitted in the High Court in London publishing untrue allegations about the Real Madrid and former Manchester United winger.
Court victory: Cristiano Ronaldo Photo: GETTY IMAGES
7:00PM GMT 09 Nov 2009
The case arose from a Mirror article on July 18 last year entitled “Ron The Lash” which appeared alongside a picture of the Portuguese international on crutches in Los Angeles, where he had travelled to attend a sports award ceremony.
The article claimed that, despite being in recovery from an ankle operation as a result of which he was on crutches, he had “gone on a bender” at a Hollywood nightclub, where he had splashed out £10,000 on champagne and vodka for friends and models, having himself already drunk four glasses of red wine earlier in the evening over a meal.
The report said that later on in the nightclub he drank a number of vodka and sodas before switching to bottles of champagne.
Plagiarism can not occur when publishing research. If someone does not cite someone else's work they have used they are also in the position to be sued. in dictionaries it is described as, "the wrongful appropriation, close imitation, or purloining and publication, of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the representation of them as one's own original work." Without this law then many people would argue over the creators or the original thinkers of different things.
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