As we pointed out last week, Lord McAlpine’s reputation was severely damaged by the event surrounding the ill-conceived Newsnight broadcast of 2 November 2012. That damage was caused in part by the publication on Twitter of material which linked him to the unidentified individual mentioned in the broadcast. Lord McAlpine was plainly entitled to have his reputation restored. This was, in practice, substantially achieved by the apology given by the BBC on 10 November 2012. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: November 2012 (Page 4 of 7)
Lord Black’s plans for reform of press self-regulation, based on a system of commercial contracts, have so far received remarkably little scrutiny. Black was grilled by Robert Jay QC at the Leveson Inquiry, though the substance of his oral evidence was hardly reported. Continue reading
Lord McAlpine’s settlement with the BBC for £185,000 plus costs, and the threat of legal action against tweeters who published his name following Newsnight’s false allegations has been the top media law story of the week. A transcript of McAlpine’s interview with BBC World at One is available here; his solicitor’s interview with the programme can be listened to here. Continue reading
It is a marvel of hypocrisy for the Sunday Times to attempt to worry its readers about a ‘fifth column’ in the British establishment that is supposedly led by Sir David Bell, an adviser to the Leveson Inquiry.
If the Sunday Times was really interested in those exercising secret influences over important institutions, it would surely be writing about a foreign-owned company that has long enjoyed direct and unrecorded access to successive prime ministers and is also alleged (by the police themselves) to have corrupted police officers. Continue reading
In the case of Trkulja v Yahoo! Inc LLC & Anor ([2012] VSC 88), after the jury had made findings on liability, Kaye J awarded damages of Aus$225,000 against the search engine Yahoo! The case is of considerable general interest. It deals with publication by an internet search engine provider and the factors to be taken into account when assessing damages where the alleged defamation concerns criminal acts. Continue reading
The Leveson Inquiry has made the press extremely uncomfortable. For once, their own conduct is being subject to investigation and critical scrutiny. To use a well known phrase, they like to dish it out, but they can’t take it. A number of newspapers regard scrutiny of their own conduct as constitutionally improper – an unjustified interference with the freedom of the press to do what it likes, regardless of the impact on others. Continue reading
The European Court of Human Rights delivered a new and remarkable judgment on trade union freedom of expression. In Szima v. Hungary the European Court of Human Rights concluded that a criminal conviction of a leader of a police trade union for having posted critical and offensive comments on the Union’s website was to be considered necessary in a democratic society for the prevention of disorder or crime, and more precisely of preserving order in the armed forces. Continue reading
It has the makings of a pub quiz question: What do Sally Bercow, Nick Griffin, Lalit Modi, George Monbiot and Rupert Murdoch have in common? (And please don’t answer this question by way of Twitter). For the purposes of this article, they are some recent examples of those finding themselves in legal trouble on Twitter. They are unlikely to be the last. Continue reading
There is no doubt that Lord McAlpine has been badly treated by the BBC. The Newsnight broadcast on 2 November 2012 about sexual abuse in children’s homes in North Wales in the 1970s and 1980s referred to “a leading Tory politician of the Thatcher era”. Although he was not mentioned by name, this individual being referred to was Lord McAlpine. He was identified before transmission on Twitter and was foreseeably identified afterwards by large numbers of people. The report was wrong – as the BBC admitted on 10 November 2012. It issued an unreserved apology. Continue reading
Condemnation of the BBC over the Newsnight report linking child abuse allegations to a former senior Tory politician has been savage and universal. Journalists, pundits and politicians confess themselves shocked and horrified that programme could fall so far below the standards of professional journalism expected at the BBC. The BBC, which had not actually named Lord McAlpine, promptly published an apology and full retraction, but McAlpine may still sue for libel. Continue reading
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