Current affairs reporting is one of the 17 news fields listed in the Press Card Regulation for the titles of news manager, editor, sub-editor and chief.
The Basis in the Legislation
The text of the sub-paragraph: on condition of working in the fields of politics, home news, foreign news, current affairs, the economy, finance, celebrity news, education, sport, culture and the arts, tourism, the family, health, science and technology, the environment, exclusive news and new media news; the news manager or editor or sub-editor or chief.
| Type of publication | Sub-paragraph | The 17-field condition |
|---|---|---|
| Daily political newspapers | Art. 19/1-g | Yes |
| Weekly political newspapers and magazines | Art. 20/1-g | Yes |
| Non-political newspapers and magazines | Art. 21/1-g | No |
| Fortnightly and less frequent publications | Art. 22/1-e | Yes |
| News and photo agencies | Art. 24/1-d | Yes |
| Radio and television | Art. 26/1-g | Yes |
| Internet news sites | Art. 27/1-g | Yes — the coordinator is also added to the titles |
Its Relationship with the Currency Requirement
The Official Announcements and Advertisements Regulation requires the content of periodicals that will publish official advertisements to be original and current. Art. 79: the content must include news, columns, articles, commentary, research, interviews and the like, original and current, relating to one or more of the subjects of politics, society, the economy, culture, the arts, science, technology, celebrity news and sport.
Content Requirements
In publications publishing official announcements the daily minimum number and quality of content is governed. We covered the detail in how much content must be published a month and in the minimum number of news items and visitor traffic.
The Risk of Disinformation
In fast-moving current affairs reporting, verification is decisive for legal liability.
Reply and Correction
The right of reply and correction operates against an incorrect news item. We covered the detail in the full guide to the right of reply and correction.
Its Relationship with the Reporter Title
The 17 fields are listed for the managerial titles. The title of reporter, by contrast, appears in every list in a separate sub-paragraph without a field condition (Art. 19/1-h and its equivalents). In practice the name of the field defines the reporter’s specialisation.
We covered the detail in who is a reporter: duties, rights and the press card and in the news manager: duties and the press card title.