Journalistic Genre and the Civil Law Journalistic Responsibility for Infringement of Dignity

Maria Łoszewska-Ołowska, Joanna Szylko-Kwas

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Journalistic responsibility for words is one of the most important issues concerning the functioning of modern media. It gains a significant meaning in the context of responsibility for infringing one’s reputation, which happens as a result of formulating accusations in press material. It remains unresolved if a media genre chosen by a journalist increases the risk of violating the reputation. From the analyzed statements it seems there is no confirmation in jurisdiction that genre is one of the criteria taken directly into account when judging infringement. However, there are such genres which somehow “impose” greater care in terms of verifying facts, an example of which is the reportage. Other genres, for which opinion and judgment are more constitutive and characteristic, have a greater risk of violating the reputation. It requires mentioning that the satire convention, present in jurisdiction, as a judgmental genre and infringing reputation, can be an argument for removing the unlawfulness of the infringement.

KEYWORDS

reputation, dignity, journalistic genre, responsibility, satire