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The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog

Month: September 2010 (Page 2 of 4)

Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Phone Hacking; by Henry Fox

September 22, 2010 / / 0 Comments

On 20 September 2010, the Home Affairs Select Committee announced the terms of their inquiry into phone hacking by the News of the World. The inquiry will focus on:

  • The definition of the offences relating to unauthorised tapping or hacking in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, and the ease of prosecuting such offences; and
  • The police response to such offences, especially the treatment of those whose communications have been intercepted; and
  • What the police are doing to control such offences. Continue reading

Opinion: “Press outrage over privacy law is both misconceived and misdirected” – Stevie Loughrey

September 21, 2010 / / 0 Comments

The injunctions granted to Colin Montgomerie and three England footballers in recent weeks have been greeted with the now familiar wailing and gnashing of teeth by various sections of the media, venting their outrage at what they perceive to be the imposition of judge-made privacy law by stealth. They claim this is having a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism and the reporting of matters of public interest. There are a number of flaws with such arguments. Continue reading

Law and Media Round Up – 20 September 2010 [updated]

September 20, 2010 / / 1 Comment

In this regular feature we draw attention to the last week’s law and media news and next week’s upcoming events. If readers have any news or events which they would like to draw attention to please add them by way of comments on this post.

News

The reporting priorities of the British press are helpfully analyzed every week by the Media Standards Trust “Journalisted” website.  For the week ending Sunday 12 September  2010 Wayne Rooney’s private life was the most reported story, followed by news of the Pope’s visit, Koran burning threats and pressure on Andy Coulson following ‘hackgate’.

Continue reading

Defamation in New South Wales – lots of cases and more judges

September 19, 2010 / / 3 Comments

Supreme Court of New South Wales

London is sometimes, inaccurately, described as the “libel capital of the world” (it is, in fact, a libel backwater).  A more plausible candidate for the international title might be Sydney, capital of the Australian State of New South Wales.  Although the population of New South Wales is just over 7 million it appears to have similar numbers of libel cases to the whole of England and Wales with nearly eight times the population. Continue reading

PCC, Phone Hacking and Statutory Regulation

September 18, 2010 / / 1 Comment

A number of recent stories in and about the press have once again, focused attention on the role of the Press Complaints Commission (“PCC”) as the “independent regulator” of the print media.   There is the The “News of the World” phone hacking story and the shocking treatment of Wayne Rooney and William Hague (see our posts here and here).  There are also the recent “privacy injunctions” which, as the Liberal Democrat Voice points out, also suggest that the regime regulating privacy is not working.  In relation to the hacking story, the PCC Watch Blog concludes that “The PCC is not equipped to deal with phone hacking and not constituted to act as a regulator”. Continue reading

Matrix Media Update – 17 September 2010

September 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

This is a Media Law Update covering the past month prepared by the Legal Information Team at Matrix Chambers, which they have kindly agreed to make available to readers of Inforrm.

Latest Cases

Sanoma Uitgevers BV v the Netherlands (App No. 38224/03) ECtHR (Grand Chamber) – 14 Sept 2010.  Seizure of journalists’ confidential material illegal – violation of ECHR, art 10.  See here for press release and here for Inforrm blog case comment. Continue reading

Von Hannover and Springer v Germany – the Media Intervention

September 16, 2010 / / 3 Comments

The important media privacy case of Von Hannover and Springer v Germany is due to be heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on 13 October 2010.  We have already previewed this potentially very important case and reported on the fact that the Media Lawyers Association (“the MLA”) had been given permission to intervene.   This intervention was lodged last month.  We have now been provided with a copy of the 10 page MLA Submission prepared by Heather Rogers QC. Continue reading

Should media organisations be subject to the Freedom of Information Act?

September 15, 2010 / / 1 Comment

In an entertaining speech in the House of Commons on 7 September 2010 in a debate on freedom of information the Labour MP, and former President of the NUJ, Dennis MacShane made an interesting and provocative proposal.  The debate concerned some modest measures to tighten up the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”).  However, Mr MacShane introduced a radical suggestion: that the Act should be extended in its scope to cover not just public authorities but also private media organizations and other bodies which receive state funding. Continue reading

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