Legal challenges facing music journalists — how they’re impacting an already weakened industry
By: Michael Williams
Tags: Law, Legislation, Public Interest, Music, Journalism

Social media and ‘citizen journalism’ is putting further pressure on the press to think of new ways to stay relevant, but legal challenges are already putting them at a disadvantage.

Music journalists, as discussed in previous posts, are frequently being out shunned by new emerging forms of mass and social media, with fans and labels directly interacting with each other, and music critics being too late to the scene with new music due to new apps setting trends and exposing people directly to new artists and genres.

But it seems TikTok isn’t the only threat to traditional music journalism. Laws and editorial codes affecting journalists in all areas have hit the music industry particularly hard. The glimmer of hope for music critics and journalists, such as those working for NME, was the ability to use their platforms to access information and exclusives, using their status as mainstream writers and journalists. Social media is run by the general public and therefore can only use information available to them. Music journalists may have access to unreleased music, exclusives and never before seen information, which the general public don’t. But even this might be in jeopardy due to the restrictive nature from UK laws, and we’re seeing these effects both here and abroad.

Journalists are subject to various regulatory codes as well as criminal laws and internal management within journalism bodies. In a meeting by the UK Communications Committee focusing on restrictions for UK journalists and possible reasons for breaking the law, the ‘public interest’ argument was seen as very difficult to define. Paul Lewis from the Guardian was even mentioned in the report, commenting how ‘you need very strong evidence, and it must be the only method available to you to prove that story.’ One Guardian journalist spoke of just how restrictive these laws can be for journalists attempting to act as the Fourth Estate, suggesting that laws such as the Data Protection Act can ‘undermine journalism’. He spoke of the revised Data Protection Act 2018 and how it created ‘new provisions aimed expressly at journalists’.

Journalists are heavily legislated against, and many suggest that they are increasingly relying on ‘second hand observation’, under reporting legal aspects and first-hand knowledge for fear of backlash. These legislative fears arise from laws ranging from not just Data Protection, but also other privacy laws, defamation, copyright and intellectual property laws. And that’s not where it ends. Journalists also face strict rules and guidelines from codes such as the Editor’s Code of Practice which is set by the Independent Press Standard’s Organisation (IPSO), setting out standards that journalism industries have agreed to follow including rules on privacy, accuracy, and so on.

Whilst you may be thinking that these cases appear to be a bit extreme for music journalists to justify, there are times when journalists specialising in the inner workings of the music industry may need to uncover breaking stories relating to it that they cannot due to various laws and systems in place.

This is where social media and ‘citizen journalism’ has the upper hand. Various communities developed on social media exist for different fan bases and types of music, and these communities are subject to far less scrutiny and prosecution. This means that in certain situations, such as uncovering artist abuse scandals and exposing the dark side of the music industry, victims and eye witnesses within fan bases on social media are able to expose injustice from within, largely without having to worry about laws and legal issues such as defamation.

We see examples like this frequently. Justin Bieber, a popular musician, was recently involved in an incident whereby two fans accused him of sexual assault on Twitter, and Bieber was forced to prove his innocence through the platform too. Whilst their tweets were later deleted, they had already been spread like wildfire, and screenshots had been shared all over the media. This is an example of ‘citizen journalism’, with ramifications for those spreading tweets being much smaller than what would be if a news source broke the story, with risks that defamation laws may come into play.

Multiple journalists and commentators have described the ‘chilling effect’ of criminalising journalism. It sets a dangerous habit of journalists missing out stories or choosing to skip over certain ones over fear that they may be breaking the law. Whilst off the topic of music journalism, this is true more generally, in countries that do not have exceptions or clauses for the ‘public interest’, such as Australia, with even ‘responsible, public interest reporting’ falling prey to these laws. In Australia, a country with no public interest defence, journalists reportedly live in fear of the ‘prohibitively expensive loss’ that may result from a defamation case, with last years average damages awarded reaching $137,500.

Artists are also using social media to communicate directly with their fans, meaning that following scandal or rumour, investigative journalism is not needed as much due to growing transparency, with scandal being a sensitive area for music journalists who wish to avoid breaking the law. More recently, The Band CAMINO parted ways with their bassist Graham Howell due to allegations of sexual misconduct and announced the move over Twitter. Under the post were stories by victims of Howell’s misconduct of how he took advantage of his position in the band and contained graphic detail of how he befriended his victims and began to abuse his power. One victim mentioned how she built up the courage to share her story when she saw other victims coming forward on social media.

Many feel safe sharing stories and exposing injustice over social media as they not only feel connected to a community of like minded individuals, but also do not consider legalities such as defamation, and are not subject to editorial codes. One Guardian journalist puts it plainly; ‘many have turned to collective action using the internet to work cooperatively’, as he shed light on how laws and codes only accentuate the already weakened position of mainstream news outlet profitability by Facebook and other aggregators.

One thing is for sure, music journalists, already at a weakened position due to social media platforms and streaming service features are facing even greater attacks due to the freedoms of citizen journalism that juxtapose the laws and codes that journalists are placed under, hindering outlets investigations, as they attempt to avoid any form of prosecution that may further threaten profit margins.