The Media Reform Coalition has released a new briefing paper on what the Leveson Report recommends about media ownership and plurality. It notes that, as the issue of ‘statutory underpinning’ heats up, it is easy to neglect this key area of media policy. The MRC believes that ownership of the media is a crucial part of ensuring a fair, free and independent press. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: December 2012 (Page 3 of 6)
A five-person panel has been appointed to consider the recommendations of the Leveson Report in Scotland. The expert group, to be chaired by former Solicitor General and Senator of the College of Justice Lord McCluskey, features Scots legal experts and representatives of journalism and those affected by malpractice. Continue reading
The Media Standards Trust supports Lord Justice Leveson’s proposal for a voluntary system of independent regulation. Lord Justice Leveson writes that the previous system of self-regulation, led by the PCC, “was simultaneously a panacea, a misnomer and a contradiction in terms” (1.4, p.1515). He says Continue reading
It is wrong to treat free speech as being a superior or primary right in a democracy as some reform campaigners have. Many of the values underpinning free speech – truth, individual autonomy and development, the maintenance of a democratic society – also underpin reputation itself. We should value robust protection for reputation for many of the same reasons that we value free speech itself. Continue reading
In a recent post on Inforrm it was suggested that the recent notorious prank phone call from two Australian DJs to the King Edward VII Hospital where they blagged private information about the Duchess of Cambridge and which had such tragic consequences, constituted an offence under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “DPA”). Continue reading
Victims of rape and other serious sexual crimes are entitled to lifelong anonymity under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992. It is sometimes suggested that defendants in sex cases should enjoy similar protection until they are convicted at trial. However in a novel twist, a judge recently went one step further and ordered the anonymisation of a convicted rapist in order to protect the identity of his victim. Continue reading
Lord Justice Leveson recommended the establishment of an independent and voluntary self-regulator for the press. And given, the long history of inadequate self regulation, he recommended that the law must “provide a mechanism to recognise and certify” the new self-regulator. His view, after careful consideration of the alternatives, was the Ofcom should be the recognition body. Continue reading
On 30 November 2012, following a 10-day trial, Mr Justice Bean dismissed a libel claim brought by Reginald Mengi, the Executive Chairman of IPP Ltd, a company which holds major newspaper and broadcasting interests in Tanzania ([2012] EWHC 3445 (QB)). The defendant, Sarah Hermitage, had set up a blog to record and to publicise as a warning to others her experience in Tanzania; how, with no protection from the local courts and officials, she and her husband were by threats and intimidation driven out of the country and forced to abandon their investment in their farm, Silverdale. Continue reading
In a widely reported speech at the Communications Law Centre University of Technology, Sydney, Lord Justice Leveson spoke about privacy and the internet, suggesting that “while established legal norms are in many respects capable of application to the internet, it is likely that new ones and new laws will need to be developed“. Continue reading
The Law Commission recently published a timely consultation paper on reform of contempt of court laws. The current Attorney General has been extraordinarily active in bringing contempt cases – with more in the last few years than in the previous decade. His view is that contempt laws are still valid in the internet age but enforcement presents a real challenge, particularly given the power and prevalence of social media. The Law Commission’s starting point is “to ask how, in a modern, internet-connected society, the law of contempt can continue to support the principles that criminal cases should be tried only on the evidence heard in court.” Continue reading
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