McNae's Essential Law for Journalists

Siân Harrison is a Partner at Maltin PR, ex-Law Editor of PA Media (formerly the Press Association) and a member of the NCTJ Media Law Examinations Board. Siân is also an external examiner for Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. She is an experienced journalist, court reporter, and communications professional.Gill Phillips is an editorial legal consultant for the Guardian. She was the Guardian's director of editorial legal services between 2009 and 2023, during which time she advised on major investigations such as Wikileaks, Edward Snowden, phone hacking, the Panama, Paradise and Pandora Papers and the Uber Files. Before joining the Guardian, Gill was an in-house lawyer at the BBC and Times Newspapers.

Review from previous edition I have not come across any other book that covers this ground in such a focused and authoritative way. It is called 'the bible' for a reason.

• Part 1: The Landscape of Law, Ethics and Regulation 1: Introduction 2: Press Regulation 3: Broadcast Regulation 4: Journalists avoiding unjustified intrusion Part 2: Crime, Courts and Tribunals 5: Crime media coverage prior to any court case 6: Crime categories and definitions 7: Magistrates' courts summary cases 8: Magistrates' courts the most serious criminal cases 9: Crown courts and appeal courts 10: Children and young persons in court proceedings 11: Anonymity for victims and alleged victims of sexual offences, human trafficking, female genital mutilation and forced marriage offences 12: Court reporting other restrictions 13: Civil courts 14: Family courts 15: Open justice and access to court information 16: Challenging in the courts 17: Coroners' courts 18: Tribunals and public inquiries 19: Contempt of court Part 3: Defamation and Related Law 20: Defamation definitions and dangers 21: The defamation claimant and what the claimant must prove 22: Defamation defences 23: The public interest defence in defamation law 24: The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 25: Slander and malicious falsehood Part 4: Confidentiality, Privacy and Copyright 26: Breach of confidence 27: Privavy 28: Data protection 29: Copyright Part 5: Information and Expression 30: Liability for readers' postings 31: Reporting elections 32: Official secrets 33: The journalists' sources and neutrality 34: The risks of being charged with bribery, misconduct, hacking or intercepting 35: The right to take photographs, film and record Part 6: Online Chapters 36: Other UK Jurisdictions 37: The Freedom of Information Act 2000 38: Other information rights and access to meetings 39: Boundaries to expressionDLhate and obscenity 40: Terrorism and the effect of counter-terrorism law 41: SLAPPs