Privacy was high on the agenda this week as David Cameron met with Barack Obama to discuss issues of surveillance and security. Cameron was reported as taking a tougher line on the issue than Obama. The two countries plan to carry out “war games” in order to test their defenses against online criminals. The first exercise, an attack on the financial sector, will begin later this year. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: January 2015 (Page 3 of 6)
How might Facebook, Google and other intermediaries influence the outcome of the 2015 UK election? Are they displacing newspapers and TV as kingmakers? As Robin Foster noted, and data from the Oxford Reuters Institute illustrates, there is ample evidence that social media are rapidly rising as a source of news, posing deep questions about the automated, pseudo-editorial processes that increasingly determine the flow of news not only during elections but between them as well. Continue reading
The “power of The Sun” was recognised at the top levels of the army a government ‘spin doctor’ has testified in court. James Shelley, the head of public relations at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told the jury at the trial of four journalists for the tabloid that the military used the paper to place “good news stories” about the armed services. Continue reading
Two journalists, Sun picture editor John Edwards and the paper’s former district reporter John Troup, were today cleared of conspiring to make illegal payments to public officials. Continue reading
Kelvin MacKenzie and Rupert Murdoch have taken an initiative that is beyond parody: they have set up a consumer complaint website whose aim, according to the former Sun editor, is ‘to force companies and politicians to do the right thing’. Continue reading
Following a number of requests from interested but perplexed readers we have agreed to extend time for the completion of Benjamin Pell’s exciting Media and Law Quiz. The time for entries will be extended to 23 January 2015. We commend the quiz to our readers as both informative and entertaining! Continue reading
A jury at the trial of four Sun journalists has heard that a civil servant accused of leaking information to the newspaper had the highest possible security clearance. Continue reading
Media and information law specialist Anthony Hudson has been appointed a Queen’s Counsel, it was announced yesterday.
Mr Hudson, who practices at Matrix Chambers, is known for his appearances in a number of notable cases involving reporting restrictions. Continue reading
The negotiations for a debate among party leaders in the 2015 general election are currently being reported as a ‘will they, won’t they’ tale. The stakes are high. What happened in 2010 was remarkable. The debates drew a massive audience and for a brief period focused the attention of millions of voters. At a time of media fragmentation, when we worry that people can increasingly filter out views they do not share, this was an impressive achievement. Continue reading
The defence counsel for the former deputy editor of The Sun was warned about making “political” comments in court. The presiding judge, Mr Justice Saunders was responding to a remark about cuts in the royal navy made by Vincent Coughlin QC “not being exclusive to anyone”, and reminded the barrister not to express such opinions “especially with a general election coming up”. Continue reading
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