This has been a challenging year for the media in Australia, with traditional business models thrown into turmoil by new media platforms. There was little cheer for the media on the legal side, either.
While there were not too many defamation claims that went to judgment in the last 12 months, the media did not do too well. Read the rest of this entry »
On 16 May 2012 the Senior Costs Judge gave judgment in a defamation case that has important implications for the future management of costs in defamation cases – and, quite possibly, costs budgeting schemes generally: Sylvia Henry v News Group Newspapers ([2012] EWHC 90218 (Costs)).
It is an unfortunate feature of defamation proceedings that more time may be spent arguing about legal costs than about the merits of the case. The costs of litigating are indeed frequently greater – far greater – than the damages the claimant gets to compensate him for the libel.
It has been announced by the Speaker that MPs will debate the findings of the Select Committee Report into phone hacking “at the beginning of public business” tomorrow (Tuesday 22 May 2012). In other words, the debate will take place after question time and any statements to the House. Read the rest of this entry »
Module three of the Leveson Inquiry is now underway, examining the relationship between press and politicians. Jack Straw, Lord Wakeham, Alastair Campbell and Sir Harold Evans were among the witnesses during the Inquiry’s 19th week, as Natalie Peck summarised here. Read the rest of this entry »
Court orders forcing news organisations to hand over footage of protests to police are rightly controversial. Understandably, those featured are not keen on them; more contentious is the way that they more generally cast the neutrality of the media in doubt. The access which the TV news enjoys to protests is endangered by a sense that what they film is potentially police evidence as well as the public record. Read the rest of this entry »
This week the Leveson Inquiry kicked module three – examining the relationship between press and politicians – into gear, with an appearance from Jack Straw MP. It also heard evidence from, among others Lord Wakeham, Alistair Campbell and former “Times” editor, Sir Harold Evans. Outside of the inquiry, former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and a number of others were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Read the rest of this entry »
Democracy in Britain has been corrupted by illegal and unethical press practices, Hugh Grant has said.
Speaking at a rally for media reform on Thursday 17 May 2012 – hosted by the Hacked Off Campaign and the Coordinating Committee for Media Reform (“CCMR”) – the actor said it was a “disgrace” nothing had been done to curb criminal behaviour.
