These explainers were all part of student assessment for the subject ‘Dilemmas in Journalism: Legal and Ethical Issues.’ The subject is a core unit for second year Bachelor of Journalism students at La Trobe University.

We wanted to provide an open brief for the students to produce a piece (using the style, media and format that they thought appropriate) to explain an ethical or legal concept (or case, law, event, or proposition) by elaborating on how, and in what ways, it applies to or affects journalism and journalists.

Our hope for the project is that the resulting articles will provide a pool of knowledge of particular benefit to emerging journalists and cadets in newsrooms.

Over the coming weeks we will publish explainers from our 2012 class, and we are always on the lookout for more, so if you have an idea for a piece, please shoot us an email.

2012 explainers:

‘Explainer: defending defamation‘ by Stephanie Rocca

‘Explainer: the impact of trauma reporting on journalists‘ by Timothy Arendhorst

‘Explainer: guidelines for reporting on suicide‘ by Alex Pavlidis

‘Explainer: The Chatham House Rule and Alan Jones‘ by Emily Gook

‘Explainer: Free speech versus hate speech: where is the line drawn?‘ by Ingrid Vaughan

‘Explainer: Copyright and fair dealing‘ by Isabelle Laskari

‘Explainer: FAQ on the legal implications of satire in Australia‘ by Max Williams

‘Explainer: Contempt of court – dos and the don’ts for journalists‘ by Ashley Shenker

‘Explainer: freedom of information‘ by Adria De Fazio

‘Explainer: Self-plagiarism or recycling?‘ by Bridget Rollason

‘Explainer: Journalist’s Privilege – shield law‘ by Maxwell Finch