A marked spike in defamation claims for 2014 seems to have surprised some people, given recent developments around defamation law and introduction of a new Act that the previous government boldly claimed would ‘reverse’ the chilling effect. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: July 2015 (Page 3 of 5)
On 18 July 2015, the Sun ran a front page “exclusive” showing a picture of the Queen (aged about 7 or 8) and the Queen Mother doing Nazi Salutes. In the background can be seen the then Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII. The pictures were extracted from a short piece of film – apparently taken in 1933 or 1934 by the future George VI – from the royal family’s archives. The footage was also made available by the Sun. Continue reading
In 2011, the British public and press were enraptured with the revelations of phone hacking at the News of the World. Rupert Murdoch referred to appearing at parliament as ‘the most humble day of my life’ The conglomorate looked down and out. Continue reading
On 17 July 2015, the Divisional Court declared that section 1 of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 was inconsistent with EU law and made an order for disapplication suspended until 31 March 2016. The Government has indicated its intention to appeal. Continue reading
Who would have expected that one of the central debates about the future of the BBC would not be about its pro-business news coverage, its financial mismanagement or its alleged cover-up of the Jimmy Savile scandal, but about whether it should show Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night? Continue reading
In a very rare outcome, in the case of R (Davis and ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department ([2015] EWHC 2092 (Admin) the Divisional Court declared that the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) is inconsistent with European Union law and therefore is “disapplied”, although the Court suspended the effect of its order until after 31 March 2016. Permission to appeal was granted. Continue reading
In the Chamber judgment in Peruzzi v Italy ([2015] ECHR 629, only in French) handed down on 30 June 2015, the Court of Human Rights dismissed an application under Article 10 by a lawyer who had been convicted of criminal defamation of a judge. The decision is a surprising and retrograde one in the light of the recent Grand Chamber decision in Morice v France (see the Inforrm case comment). Continue reading
Over the past twelve months, the judiciary has made life very difficult for the media and, in particular, in the following areas: Continue reading
As the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel continues to sift through years of evidence on the most investigated murder in British history, four key characters emerge from the news coverage of the time. Continue reading
On Monday 6 July the European Commission launched a public consultation as part of the “Regulatory fitness” test of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). This is a big moment: concrete policy options for an overhaul of European media regulation are on the table for the first time since 2007. Continue reading
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