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Your Rights When Being Interviewed
Journalists are bound by federal and provincial laws on privacy, trespassing and defamation. They also have to follow a set of journalistic ethics and codes. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Radio and Television News Directors Association, for instance, have developed several industry codes of ethics to deal with disputes and complaints. As well, media outlets may have their own formal or informal rules or conventions that their reporters must follow. The journalistic standards and practices of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), for instance, can be downloaded from the CBC-Radio Canada web site. Here, we outline: what your rights are, under the law and according to common journalistic standards; what your options are when the law doesn’t protect you; and what to do if your rights are violated.