Publish and be Dumb!

harder than for print journalists. The words we say on the spur of the moment can be just as much the subject of an action as the words a writer may have sweated over for days. The potential for disaster on talkback radio is even more enormous, as many of the comments aired are made by members of the public who do not have to think about the libel laws at all. (However, if they commit libel, both they and the broadcaster can be sued). It is for this reason that many talkback broadcasters use a delay system so that if anything is said which is remotely 'dodgy', the offending comment can be 'dumped' while it is still in the buffer and before it has reached the transmitter.

For the letter of the law, check out Craig Smith's Communication Studies page, which is both exhaustive and potentially exhausting. Mr Smith has put the information together for the courses he is involved with at California State University.

To sum up, unless you want to follow the BBC into the defendant's dock...

• Check your facts.
• Check them again.
• If you have any doubt, check with your line managers, producers or editors (they are paid much more than you are to worry about things like this).
• Read through some old cases to see how easy it is to make mistakes.
• Check your facts once more for luck.
  The copyright of the article Publish and be Dumb! in Broadcasting is owned by Allan Lee. Permission to republish Publish and be Dumb! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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