Read, read, read!
So, this is what we were welcomed to this morning at 10:00 (totes 9:30). As you will all know I was feeling rough from the foam party last night and I definitely remember being crushed by bare amounts of foam and dyeing on the dance floor. It was worth it, I probably wouldn’t go again... but when I think about it, I really would.
So yes, this is what we've been instructed to do, read one tabloid and broadsheet each day - after this morning’s lecture I learned that news papers are definitely fun... if they're read by Chris. I found this lecture particularly interesting as im quite partial to learning about the law - I kinda used to want to be a lawyer when I first went into sixth form but I don’t know if I’d cope; mostly because I would feel the need to constantly use film quotes to help me fight a case, which would utterly work like without a doubt. But yes, let’s get down to the notes.
Law: Basically, the truth is by far your best defence - so you might as well stick to things that are very true, this will decrease your chances of being sued by like a million (more like 99) percent. So this is important when it comes to writing an article - you must make sure that you have a story, a way to strengthen it and then a way to defend it. So the truth is obis vastly important.
as I’ve already mentioned the Up’s Uncodified constitution I’m going to skip ahead to a part I previously omitted - the Up’s constitution is also a very good source of news and stories but it also has its drawbacks insofar as it also places many restraints for example the human rights act gives the right to privacy, but then again in McNeal essential law for journalists it explains that it’s to a degree of interest. For example, the right to privacy depends mostly on how the story would be viewed in the public eye and really as a journalist you’re going to want to write what is interesting. Then to flip it more on its head there's also the freedom of speech which allows people to express their options so long as they're not inciting racial hatred and so on. Cut short - constitution = a great source.
Again this introduction lecture linked heavily into AS politics insofar as the reference to the executive, legislature and the judiciary - all of which are in place to keep the others in check and make sure that there’s never too much power concentrated in one place. These institutions act as checks for each other and this dividing up of major powers is known more commonly as the "Separation of powers". However many people are arguing that there is a 4th institution that actually keeps parliament honest and free of corruption - this is the "Press" and their freedom of speech; this ties into the famous quote:
"Who shall guard the guardians?"
The answer? The press will apparently.
There are two types of law, civil and criminal law.
- Civil = things between civilians such as divorce and other disputes like "this dude has totes put his fence in my garden, I’m going to drown him" these disputes are all done in the "boring" civil court which is not the place to be, it’s like going to a bar in Kenilworth thats filled with 50 year olds. Another dispute settled in civil court are counts of LIBEL - more commonly known as the journalist's nemesis - just like Ash and Gary from Pokémon.
- Criminal = the place where it all goes down, counts of murder, theft, burglary and all those other serious offences come right here and are settled in a Crown Court. This is the place to be if you’re a journalist (who’s good at shorthand) who wants to write a bus load of articles.
- Note to self - LEARN SHORTHAND.
Then it comes to the issue of the truth. As a journalist we must always be sceptical, taking Chris' advice I’ve now been very suspecting of everyone and everything I’ve seen today, what was real? Did I even go to pizza hut today? Im confusing myself now...
In any case, and this is very important, for civil and criminal offences there is a very strict standard of truth. Remember that!
Standard of proof: The standard of proof is different for both civil and criminal.
Civil = Balance of probability.
Basically, this means that if it looks like they did it then they totes did, for example someone standing above a corpse with a knife and there’s blood everywhere then they're nicked. Very simple and effective way to judge the crime. However, as I learnt in a Key concepts seminar yesterday all is not as it seems! We were told a story by Paul Manning about a hit man ordered to kill a cheating husband's lover - to cut a long story short the hit man knew the hit and so they staged a photograph of the hit covered in tomato sauce and could easily pawn it off as if the hit had been fulfilled. Again linking back to today's lecture - always is sceptical. Boom.
Criminal = Beyond reasonable doubt.
This one’s a bit trickier to pull off. To convict someone of a murder or a more serious offence then you need to acquire one of three sources of evidence.
1. You need a confession!
2. Forensic evidence.
3. Eye witness accounts.
Without these necessities the jury don’t have enough evidence to vote guilty and therefore the justice system has many draw backs.
Well I managed to get this done in the right amount of time! I’ll post today's second lecture about philosophy tomorrow with my free day. This is me done for today, three blog posts in like two hours, boom. I'm now off to drink outrageous amounts of alcohol at Bier Keller which starts at 8... For you Scott Pilgrim fans I’ll leave you with this
"So yeah... 8 o'clock?"
Bye and stuff x
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