Journalists guilty of using hidden camera
The use of hidden cameras to reveal illegal activities by businesses and institutions may be at risk following a city court ruling yesterday Two journalists were both handed 20-day suspended jail sentences yesterday for their role in illegally filming the...
Two journalists were both handed 20-day suspended jail sentences yesterday for their role in illegally filming the residents of a city nursing home.
The journalists, who were working for now-defunct film company Bastard Film, were investigating the allegedly poor treatment of residents and conditions at the Fælledgården nursing home. The footage was used in a documentary for public broadcaster DR’s ‘Magasinet Søndag’ programme, which was televised in May 2006.
The reporters carried hidden cameras and posed as social workers, but did not inform the residents they were filming and did not get their consent.
According to court testimony, some of the footage taken of the residents was private in nature, and included showing them going to the toilet.
When the matter was put before the Press Council, the body approved the use of hidden cameras but criticised the manner in which the Fælledgården assignment was handled by the two journalists.
Yesterday’s ruling was criticised by the Danish Union of Journalists, whose president called it ‘a serious encroachment on the press’s freedom and journalistic means’.