Newspaper campaigns

• What are 2 newspaper campaigns?


  Sarah’s Law

  Justice for Michael campaign
• Where did Sarah’s Law originate from?


  following abduction and murder in July 2000 of 8 years old Sarah by a well known paedophile

  they collaborated with News of the World
• What were Sarah’s Laws aims?

  allow parents, carer’s and others to ask police if convicted sex offender has contact with a specific child

  police will then reveal the information if its in the child’s interest.
• How did News of the World play a role in Sarah’s Law?


  Was central to campaigns success

  July 2000 it named and shamed 50 people it claimed were paedophiles

  • paper promised it would carry on with this until all paedo’s were named in Britain
  • it helped persuade government into making the Child Sex offender disclosure scheme
• Why was Sarah’s Law successful?

  protected 60 children

  • led to 600 inquires
  • 315 applications
  • 21 disclosures

  Powers were applied nation wide

  led to disclosure scheme
• What were the concerns with Sarah’s Law?


  Even if a person asks police if someone their child has contact with has a child sex offence record, police are not obliged to disclose information and will only share if they judge that the child is at risk of harm

  • disclosure acts as a safeguard
• Where did Justice for Michael’s campaign originate from?


  Michael was 20 when he was assaulted in 1992

  He died after being in a coma for 22 months

  • the assaulter could only be charged with GBH and was jailed for 2 yrs - he was free before Michael died

  This campaign was around when the year and a day rule was around
• What is the year and a day rule?


  Dated back to 1278

  If victim was assaulted but lived for a year and a day

  • attacker could not be tried for manslaughter or murder
• What was Northern Echo’s role in Justice for Michael campaign?


  launched a petition for people to sign so the year and a day rule can be scrapped

  the echo published a photo of Michael in a coma and thousands of readers signed the petition
• Was Justice for Michael campaign successful?


  1994, local MP’s introduced a bill into the House of commons to scrap the year and a day rule but was defeated

  Northern Echo‘s petition to the law commission caused the year and a day rule to be reformed in 1996