Lesson 1Anonymous and leaked sources: verifying authenticity, chain-of-custody issues, legal protections and limitsCovers handling anonymous and leaked sources across media. Addresses verifying authenticity, chain of custody, legal protections, source confidentiality, and limits where courts, regulators, or platforms may compel disclosure or restrict publication.
Assessing credibility and corroborationChain-of-custody and document handlingSource protection laws and shield rulesWhen courts may compel source disclosureRisk of publishing forged or altered leaksLesson 2Image and privacy risks in video: filming in private vs public spaces, blurring, anonymisation of third partiesLooks at privacy and image rights in video, contrasting public and private spaces. Discusses consent, expectation of privacy, blurring and anonymisation, minors, vulnerable persons, and managing crowd scenes or bystanders in sensitive contexts.
Public spaces and reasonable expectationsFilming on private property and consentChildren and vulnerable individuals on cameraBlurring faces, plates, and identifiersSensitive locations and safety concernsLesson 3Personal data risks for written articles: health, criminal records, family details — assessing necessity and proportionalityExplores when publishing health, criminal, or family details in articles is lawful and justified. Focuses on necessity, proportionality, public interest, minimisation, and documentation of editorial decisions under privacy and data protection rules.
Special category data and legal basesCriminal records and rehabilitation concernsFamily and children’s privacy expectationsNecessity, proportionality, and data minimizationDocumenting public interest justificationsLesson 4Third-party rights: family members’ privacy, employer/employee confidentiality, trade secrets and non-public corporate documentsExamines third-party rights affected by publication, including relatives, employers, and companies. Focuses on privacy, confidentiality, trade secrets, and non-public corporate records, plus strategies for redaction, consent, and secure handling of materials.
Incidental versus central third-party dataEmployer and employee confidentiality dutiesTrade secrets and misappropriation risksHandling non-public corporate documentsRedaction, anonymization, and access limitsLesson 5User-generated content and comments: platform liability, moderation obligations, pre-publication screening vs reactive moderationExamines legal exposure from user-generated content and comments on sites, apps, and channels. Covers platform liability shields, notice-and-takedown, moderation standards, pre-screening versus reactive review, and policy design to reduce systemic risk.
Intermediary liability and safe harbor rulesDefamation and hate speech in commentsNotice, takedown, and staydown systemsAutomated filters versus human moderationCommunity guidelines and enforcementLesson 6Multimedia and embedded content risks: social media screenshots, embedded tweets/posts, attribution and takedown considerationsAnalyses risks from embedding or reproducing third-party multimedia, such as social media posts, screenshots, and widgets. Covers copyright, privacy, terms of service, attribution, and notice-and-takedown procedures across websites and apps.
Screenshots versus native embedsCopyright in posts, images, and videosPlatform terms and API restrictionsAttribution, credit lines, and captionsTakedown notices and repeat infringer rulesLesson 7Video-specific legal risks: copyright for TV extracts, music and clips, right to quote, fair use analogues and licensingAddresses video-specific legal risks, including use of TV clips, music, and third-party footage. Explains quotation rights, fair use or similar exceptions, licensing options, and how editing, overlays, and duration affect infringement and clearance analysis.
Using TV extracts and news footageMusic, soundtracks, and performance rightsUser videos, stock footage, and B-rollQuotation, criticism, and fair use analoguesLicensing workflows and rights trackingLesson 8Identifying defamation risks in long-form written publications: allegations, sourcing, attribution and verifiabilityFocuses on defamation risks in long-form written pieces such as features and investigations. Explores identifying allegations, separating fact from opinion, verifying sources, fair attribution, right of reply, and documenting editorial checks and balances.
Defamatory meaning and reputational harmFact, opinion, and mixed statementsSourcing, corroboration, and verificationAttribution, quotations, and contextRight of reply and editorial recordsLesson 9Podcast-specific risks: use of recorded interviews, consent for off-camera remarks, defamatory spoken statements and republicationAnalyses podcast risks from recorded interviews, informal remarks, and edited episodes. Covers consent, off-mic expectations, defamation in spoken form, republication on other platforms, and practical clearance and fact-checking workflows for audio content.
Recording laws and consent requirementsManaging off-record and off-mic remarksDefamation in conversational podcast formatsEditing, context loss, and implied meaningsSyndication, transcripts, and republicationLesson 10Cross-media amplification risks: repetition across formats increasing damage and multiplicative liabilityExplores how repeating the same content across articles, video, and podcasts can magnify harm and liability. Considers republication rules, limitation periods, jurisdictional spread, and strategies to align corrections and takedowns across formats.
Single publication versus fresh publicationClips, trailers, and promotional snippetsGlobal reach and multi-jurisdiction exposureCoordinated corrections and updatesArchiving, delisting, and de-indexing
