PODCAST: You can’t print that, it's a breach of 'Data Protection'!

SYNOPSIS AND KEY POINT 
In this episode we're hearing from James Filleul, the Editor of Bailiwick Express, who we’ve invited to the podcast as part of Project Bijou. We’ve turned the journalism table on him, so today he is interviewed by our commissioner, Emma Martins.

James tells us that as an Editor, the most frequent time he comes across the words ‘data protection’ is from someone using it to keep their activities OUT of the public domain, and close down a story.

Journalism is often controversial; if it is done properly, it involves publishing information which someone usually doesn’t want to be public.

Very often they reach for ‘data protection’ as their ‘weapon-of-choice’ to prevent that happening. Nearly always, this is based on a misunderstanding of the law, and it is why journalism is specifically addressed by data protection laws.

Without good journalism, democracies stop being democratic; this reality places both a great privilege and a huge responsibility on journalists’ shoulders.

BIO
With a degree in English Literature and Post-graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism, James joined the BBC as a news trainee. Within three years he had become the senior journalist and overall news editor in Jersey, before moving to become a producer/presenter with BBC TV.  

In 2002 James left the BBC to set up the Channel Islands’ first PR & Media Training agency, Direct Input (DI). He holds a Diploma in Public Relations, with a distinction in the use of Social Media for PR work. 

In 2006 James co-founded and became the Communications Director of a ‘virtual airline.’ He sold his interest in the company in 2009. 

In 2014, James became the founding editor of Bailiwick Publishing, which produces a daily digital newspaper for Jersey and for Guernsey, Bailiwick Express, and a monthly business magazine, Connect. 

James is a past-President of The Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and was one of the founding non-executive directors on the Board of Jersey Business Ltd – a government funded agency set up to support local businesses.