News: Newspaper Society “Local Editors Survey” – Unscientific and Misleading

The Newspaper Society represents the local and regional media which, everyone agrees, are an essential feature of the democratic landscape.  The Society tells us that there are 1,100 local and regional newspapers read by nearly 31 million people a week.  Local newspapers are said to be more than twice as trusted as any other media channel. Unfortunately, Newspaper Society itself does not deserve the same degree of trust.   It has today published the result of a bizarre “survey” of local newspaper editors under the headline “Half of Local Newspaper Editors Say Leveson Inquiry has Damaged Relationship with Readers“.

Leveson: Forget How We Got Here? Newspaper Coverage of the Royal Charter Deal – Sally Broughton Micova

When Leveson published his Report at the end of November our research showed that the press presented the story as one mainly about freedom of the press and the struggle by hacking victims for vindication and protection in the future. Slightly less prominent but also present was a narrative of the politico-media complex or ties between big media and politicians. Our latest study of newspaper coverage before and after the Royal Charter agreement for implementing Leveson’s recommendations showed that the struggle of the victims of press wrongdoings has all but disappeared from the story.

Leveson: Papers that hate human rights – except when it’s their rights

One of the more remarkable features of the “war on Leveson” waged by leading British papers has been their willingness to appeal to the European Convention on Human Rights. In the cases of several newspaper groups this is the most flagrant hypocrisy. They have consistently accused the Court of Human Rights of ignoring the will of a democratically elected parliament, but this is precisely what they want the court to do now in relation to the Leveson recommendations.

News: “‘Protecting free speech: A Public Interest Defence for the Media?”, A Debate at Gray’s Inn – Henry Vane

Journalism in ‘the public interest’ is central to a healthy democracy but extremely hard to define and police.  At present it has an ambiguous legal status; recognised by law but not enshrined in it. The ‘public interest’ is often (successfully) used as a defence by journalists for publishing stories or doing things which are technically illegal. Yet this protection relies on the discretion of judges and the CPS and is not underpinned in statute.

Twitter enters the courts in Ontario – Adam Lazier

Under a policy that came into force on February 1, journalist are now allowed to tweet and live-blog proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the province’s court that hears civil and major criminal proceedings.  Although the policy has a number of limitations, it marks an important step forward for open courts in Ontario.

Journalisted, week ending 3 March 2013, Eastleigh, The Oscars and riots in Bangladesh

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust. It collects information automatically from the websites of British news outlets. Articles are indexed by journalist, based on the byline to the article. Keywords and statistics are automatically generated, and the site searches for any blogs or social bookmarking sites linking to each article.

Press self-regulation and the new media framework: How to define a ‘journalist’ – Fabrizio Cafaggi and Federica Casarosa

As political leaders and the press in the UK consider press regulation post Leveson, Fabrizio Cafaggi and Federica Casarosa, authors of a recent report [pdf] on private regulation and journalism, argue that it is important to consider how journalists are defined in the new media environment.

Journalisted, week ending 24 February 2013, Pistorius bail, Moody’s downgrade and Child poverty

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust. It collects information automatically from the websites of British news outlets. Articles are indexed by journalist, based on the byline to the article. Keywords and statistics are automatically generated, and the site searches for any blogs or social bookmarking sites linking to each article.

Leveson: The Latest Press Disinformation Campaign – Brian Cathcart

Three weeks ago the great former Sunday Times editor Sir Harry Evans accused the national press of gross distortion and staggering misrepresentation in their coverage of Lord Justice Leveson’s report. Well, since then it has got a lot worse.

Journalisted, week ending 10 February 2013, Chris Huhne, Gay Marriage and fishing reform

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust. It collects information automatically from the websites of British news outlets. Articles are indexed by journalist, based on the byline to the article. Keywords and statistics are automatically generated, and the site searches for any blogs or social bookmarking sites linking to each article.