The Media Law Podcast published its debut episode last week. It is the first in a new series that will see founding presenters Tom Bennett (City University) and Paul Wragg (Leeds University) being joined by guest speakers to discuss news and current “hot topics” in UK Media Law. The podcast will publish episodes several times a year, with the long-term aim of producing monthly outputs. Is a resource that will be useful for students, academics and practitioners in the fields of law, journalism and media/communications.

Media Law, as readers of this blog will be well aware, is an exciting and fast-moving field that continues to bring matters of social and political significance into the public eye. It is an area of law that is a mainstay of many law schools’ curricular in the UK and beyond, and is also a core subject for students of journalism. But perhaps because of the speed with which developments in this field occur, we often find ourselves with only limited time to stop and think about the direction in which the law is heading, or to reflect on the significance of individual cases, judgements, proposals for law reform, and so forth. Tom and Paul started the Media Law Podcast out of a desire to make some time for these important reflections, and in order to share the fruits of discussions about the law in this field with others.

The first series of the Media Law Podcast, which will run during the academic year 2018-19, is based on the theme of “Responsibility and Irresponsibility”. Each episode will focus on a particular topic connected to that theme. In the first episode, Tom and Paul are joined by Helen Belcher, one of the founding members of Trans Media Watch, to discuss the portrayal of minority groups in the mainstream media. The discussion looks at the suitability of existing mechanisms for the regulation of publications that portray minority groups in misleading and discriminatory ways, and asks whether enough is being done to protect minority groups from being misrepresented. Tom and Paul also do a round-up of news from the Media Law world.

Future episodes will grapple with issues from across the spectrum of Media Law, including personal privacy, the impact of recent statutory reforms on defamation, and the “no-platforming” of purveyors of hate speech.

The Media Law Podcast can be streamed on Soundcloud and downloaded for offline listening on Soundcloud’s apps. Links to individual episodes can be embedded in teaching materials. The podcast is currently also under review for release on iTunes.

The Media Law Podcast is on Twitter @MediaLawPodcast.