The Journalists Legal Guide, Sixth Edition, provides up-to-date and succinct discussions of the legal issues in reporting and uncovering the news. Whether you're a working journalist, editor, blogger, producer, or researcher, this essential guide to the law affecting the news media can help you understand your legal rights and limits. With a clear view of the intersection between law and journalism, you can not only avoid or mitigate potentially expensive legal problems, you can also eliminate the uncertainty that waters down or kills an important story. Knowing your rights can boost the confidence and quality of your storytelling.

For almost three decades, journalists, editors, and students have turned to The Journalists Legal Guide for fast answers and crisp, plain-language guidance on media law to help them craft better stories.

This detailed and incisive handbook covers every area of law affecting the news media, including:

• Charter of Rights challenges
• Defamation
• Internet law
• Confidentiality of sources
• Court orders and bans
• Police powers
• Access to information
• Ethics and the law

Noted author, journalist and consultant Michael G. Crawford penetrates the legalese to reveal the bottom lines of the latest cases and legislation affecting your rights and responsibilities.

New in this edition:

• Recent landmark Supreme Court of Canada decisions affecting the news media
• Expanded chapters on issues involving the internet, social media, and digital reportage
• New developments in invasion of privacy, cyber bullying, and publishing intimate images
• Latest workplace issues affecting employee-journalists and freelancers
• Extensive updates to every chapter, including new case law and legislation

Dozens of important decisions have affected the scope of a reporters rights in the seven years since the last edition of The Journalists Legal Guide. Discover how recent landmark cases affect your ability to express opinion, challenge infringements on your ability to gather and disseminate news, protect your sources, your notes and your confidential knowledge, and much more.

Find it fast!

The author has completely reorganized The Journalists Legal Guide, Sixth Edition to get you faster access to the information you need:

• What's the cardinal test for fair comment
• What are your rights and responsibilities regarding police searches either of your own files or during coverage of a police search
• Can you question an application made to court to exclude the public or ban publication

Highlighted case examples, checklists, quick reference aids, and other user-friendly features make this work convenient to use.

An essential resource for working journalists and more, this guide is a thorough one-stop reference on media law for:

• Print, broadcast, and web journalists and editors
• Journalism students
• Media lawyers
• Public relations firms