On the face of it Standard Verlags GmbH v. Austria (no. 3) (no. 34702/07) is no more than a run of the mill Strasbourg case (in a line running from Bladet Tromso through Fressoz and Roire to Flinkkilä and Others) concerning freedom of speech in one of the Convention signatory states where media controls are a great deal more stringent than they are here. However with the ongoing Leveson inquiry and speculation about its future recommendations occupying many column inches in the UK media it is instructive to see how other countries apply their press restrictions and indeed how Strasbourg approaches any challenge brought against them. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: January 2012 (Page 2 of 4)
It was a busy media law week at the Royal Courts of Justice, with the seventh week of the Leveson Inquiry and the settlement of 37 phone hacking cases against News International. Inforrm had a report of the week at Leveson compiled by Natalie Peck, here. It included evidence from the editor of Private Eye, Ian Hislop, magazine and regional press editors, which provided perspectives outside “Fleet Street”. Continue reading
Today is the second birthday of the Inforrm blog – which began operation on 22 January 2010. Our first post “Welcome to Inforrm” attracted 2 visitors in January 2010 and the site had a total of 7 pages views that month. That was the only post for the month. The posting rate and visitor numbers have increased dramatically since the early days. In our first two years we have had a total of 980 posts and 800,000 page views. We have an established readership all round the world. Continue reading
In Week 7 of the Leveson Inquiry, Lord Justice Leveson continued to hear evidence from editors and executives of the press. Editors of the “Times”, the “Sunday Times”, and the “Guardian” took to the stand, along with those from “Hello!”, “OK!” and “Heat” magazines. The inquiry also heard from regional and nations editors from across Britain. The most entertaining evidence of the week was perhaps that given by Ian Hislop, editor of “Private Eye”. Continue reading
On Friday 20 January 2012 the Administrative Court dismissed the second application for judicial review of the Leveson Inquiry ([2012] EWHC 57 (Admin)). The Court dismissed an application by Associated Newspapers (supported by the Daily Telegraph) to quash the decision of the Chairman, Lord Justice Leveson. decision to admit evidence from journalists who wish to remain anonymous on the ground that they fear career blight if they identify themselves. Continue reading
In 2009, the Times “outed” an anonymous blogger. It was a strange exercise at the time. A “quality” newspaper devoted its resources to forcing into the public domain the identity of the author of the popular and extremely well-written police blog known as “NightJack”. As Paul Waugh and others noted as it happened, it was somewhat weird and unfortunate that a newspaper which should respect anonymity as a condition for providing useful information was exposing an anonymous writer providing useful information. Continue reading
After two years of foot-dragging, nit-picking, hair-splitting and general obfuscation, News International has finally done the right thing in the civil litigation about phone hacking. It has put its hands up and agreed to compensate all but a few of the remaining victims who were suing it.
This belated milestone in Britain’s worst-ever press scandal seems likely to rob us of the delicious prospect of a civil trial in which the company attempted to defend the undefendable, but much more importantly it delivers some justice to people whose privacy was shockingly violated. Continue reading
Privacy, data protection, and freedom of expression both on and offline are some of the most pressing issues being considered by both courts and commentators in the United States as the New Year gets underway. The effects of the development of the internet continue to be felt as attempts are made to exert control over a frequently chaotic and unregulated area of life. This is a very brief overview of some of what lies ahead in this area over the next 12 months. Continue reading
There are many things the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Mail Paul Dacre no doubt wants to say to the Leveson Inquiry when he appears before it on February 6th and plenty of questions lined up by the Inquiry’s lawyers. I have a small suggestion. Continue reading
In the case of R (on the application of the BBC) v Secretary of State for Justice ([2011] EWHC 13 (Admin)) the High Court ruled that the Justice Secretary’s refusal to grant the BBC permission to have and to broadcast a face-to-face interview with terrorism suspect Babar Ahmad was unlawful. Continue reading
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