Posted by
Dominic Ponsford
on 15 July 2008 at 13:02
Tags: Broadcast, Law, National Newspapers
Robert Murat is expected to receives apologies from a number of British newspapers at the High Court on Thursday after suing them for libel.
According to Sky News he is expected to receive up to £500,000. The cases stem from reporting of Murat’s “arguido” status in the case off missing child Madeleine McCann.
Posted by
Dominic Ponsford
on 7 July 2008 at 09:08
Tags: Law, National Newspapers, New Media
The website Media Lens has been threatened with legal action by Times Newspapers for breach of copyright and harassment, Peter Wilby reports in the The Guardian today.
Media Lens took issue with a piece in The Times by Bronwen Maddox on 17 June arguing that she did not question the assumption that Iran is bent on producing a nuclear bomb. It invited its readers to email Maddox prompting Times Newspapers’ legal manager to write a letter saying Maddox had received “vexatious andd threatening emails” and arguing that publishing her email address was breach of copyright.
Posted by
Paul McNally
on 4 July 2008 at 16:30
Tags: Law
The Irish Times is likely to find out in October whether its appeal against a High Court order forcing it to reveal a story source is successful.
The paper’s editor, Geraldine Kennedy, and public affairs correspondent, Colm Keena, are appealing against the ruling that they must answer questions about the source of an article published in September 2006 about payments made to then Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern.
According to today’s Irish Times, the hearing will be ready by October.
Posted by
Dominic Ponsford
on 2 July 2008 at 09:50
Tags: Journalism, Law, National Newspapers
Max Mosley will seek exemplary and compensatory damages when he sues the News of the World next week in the High Court for breach of privacy. Lawyers for the News of the World failed yesterday in a bid to get the exemplary damages claim thrown out.
Mosley is suing over a video broadcast on the NoW website and news reports claiming he took part in a “Nazi-themed” orgy.
Posted by
Patrick Smith
on 1 July 2008 at 08:26
Tags: Law, New Media
A businessman is suing a former friend for creating a false Facebook profile using his personal information in what is thought to be the first defamation case involving the social networking website.
The Daily Telegraph and Daily Telegraph report that Mathew Firsht is suing for libel and misuse of private information in the High Court after camerman Grant Raphael put false information about his political views and sexual orientation on the page.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 30 June 2008 at 09:40
Tags: Broadcast, Freedom of Information, National Newspapers, New Media, Regional Newspapers
Journalists in Scotland could get the chance to file Freedom of Information Act requests to a wider range of bodies.
Scottish ministers are considering extending the scope of the Scottish version of the FOI Act, which applies to public bodies in Scotland, BBC News reports.
Housing associations, private finance projects and private prisons are among a number of new organsiations that could become subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.
The UK-wide Freedom of Information Act 2000 can also be extended to further public bodies.
The Government held a consultation on extending the list of bodies subject requests filed under the Act earlier this year.
As part of that process, the Campaign For Freedom of Information called for voluntary organisations and private bodies that perform public functions, such as academy schools, housing associations, new deal communities partnerships and local strategic partnerships — to be added to the list of bodies subject to the Act.
Posted by Peter Kirwan on 27 June 2008 at 16:39
Tags: Broadcast, Law, Magazines, Media Business, National Newspapers, New Media, Regional Newspapers
Those of you who recall Norman Fowler as one of Prime Minister Thatcher’s more right-on colleagues will have been startled by today’s coverage of the report from the House of Lords Communications Committee.
I need to read the report, but I’m not sure that making mergers more difficult will solve what ails journalism.
If anything, it’s the [...]
Posted by
Patrick Smith
on 27 June 2008 at 10:17
Tags: Law, National Newspapers
Neil Entwistle, who murdered his wife and child in America has been banned from selling his story.
The Times reports that Entwistle, who has been given an immutable life sentence for first degree murder, was arrested at a West London tube station with a note about his plans to sell his story to a newspaper but has been banned from speaking to the press.
The story may yet come out, however: the ban does not extend to Entwistle’s parents, who have hired a Boston lawyer to represent them.
Posted by
Rachael Gallagher
on 27 June 2008 at 08:54
Tags: Journalism, Law
The House of Lords has warned that news gathering is being damaged by media companies’ pursuit of online revenue and that media companies are becoming too reliant on news agencies and public relations in order to cut costs, reports Media Guardian.
The warning came in a report from The Lords communications committee, which also said that the UK should not relax its media ownership laws.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 26 June 2008 at 13:16
Tags: Freedom of Information, Journalism, National Newspapers, Online, Regional Newspapers
London mayor Boris Johnson’s plan to disclose maps of crimes committed in the capital is being held up by “an unthinking, fetishistic attitude towards privacy“, freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke argues in the Times today.
“When I was a crime reporter in America, I was able to view all police incident reports, jail booking records and every warrant signed by the magistrate. I had some privileges as a reporter, but all this information was considered to belong to the public,” she notes.
In Britain, by contrast, she has found similar data is impossible to obtain, even under the Freedom of Information Act.
Brooke notes that crime maps that hold local police to account are a fixture of local newpapers’ websites in the United States, and that a number of independent sites, like Everyblock and Spotcrime, have emerged to provide more detailed views of local crime data.
In April, the Conservative Party has pledged to introduce crime mapping in the UK, and Johnson said during his campaign for Mayor that he would begin work toward introducing the policy to London on “day one” of his administration.
The plan now has Government support. But it has also plan has faced opposition from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who fear its effect on house prices.
More crucially, the Information Commissioner’s office has advised police that the plan could breach the Data Protection Act and violate the privacy of crime victims.
Posted by
Paul McNally
on 7 June 2008 at 12:50
Tags: Law, National Newspapers
The video evidence at the centre of tabloid splashes including the Daily Mirror’s “Cocaine Kate” and The Sun’s “Amy Winehouse on Crack” should be enough to secure a prosecution, the Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair has said.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, followed up everywhere today, Blair said jurors should be able to decide whether illegal substances have been taken based on the videos leaked to the tabloids.
He said the law states that someone must be in possession of a Class A or Class B drug to be prosecuted.
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 6 June 2008 at 13:28
Tags: Journalism, Law, Photography, Regional Newspapers
Avon and Somerset police have announced that a journalist who supplied alcohol to children for a photo shoot has been cautioned.
Police said that in February journalist allowed the youths to keep the alcohol after taking the photographs in the Filton area of Bristol and that later in the evening there was a serious incident in Stoke Gifford involving some of the youths.
The Avon and Somerset police site said it was understood the photos were being taken on behalf of a national newspaper which had launched a campaign to tackle underage drinking.
Posted by
Patrick Smith
on 4 June 2008 at 19:53
Tags: Law, National Newspapers
Tabloid papers should stop using the spurious defence of “public interest” pursuing salacious stories, according to The Guardian’s chief political commentator Michael White.
Writing on the comment is Free blog about the Federation International de L’Autosport’s (FIA) decision to back its president Max Mosley, in light of News of the World allegations he indulged in a “Nazi orgy”, White questions the paper’s story and its continued position of standing squarely behind it.
Mosley, son of the British far right politician Oswald, denies there was ever a Nazi theme and is suing for libel.
And why is White criticising his colleagues in the popular press? He says ”Just to remind gullible people - not Guardian readers, of course - that they shouldn’t believe every axe-grinding allegation or claim of ‘public interest’ they read in the papers, about Formula 1 tycoons, footballers, or even politicians”.
Posted by
Dominic Ponsford
on 3 June 2008 at 09:26
Tags: Freedom of Information, Journalism, Law
The Daily Mail reports that MPs spent £82,673 on their own legal fees and a further £39,000 for the journalists who fought in court to make MPs disclose their spending. There is another bill of £48,847 for other legal advice relating to MPs’ expenses.
Posted by
Dominic Ponsford
on 30 May 2008 at 09:12
Tags: 15, Free Newspapers, Law, National Newspapers
The mayor of London Boris Johnson has complained to the PCC after News International’s Thelondonpaper published photographs of him with his four children on holiday in Turkey. The PCC said that the “intrusion has caused some distress to one of his daughters”.
Photographs of the children of celebrities are generally considered off limits by the media unless they are on public business. This has been the position since Princess Caroline won a landmark judgment at the European Court of Human Rights.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 28 May 2008 at 14:25
Tags: Law, Regional Newspapers
International Development Minister Shahid Malik has dropped his libel case against The Press in Dewsbury following an out-of court settlement, the Dewsbury Reporter notes.
Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
The MP had sued the publisher of the Press, its former editor Danny Lockwood, and a local councillor over a letter published in the paper during the 2006 election.
A jury failed to reach a verdict following a two-week trial late last year, and Lockwood was set to defend himself in a retrial. Costs of the first trial are thought to have been upwards of £300,000.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 27 May 2008 at 14:29
Tags: Freedom of Information, Regional Newspapers
The Isle of Man could get its own Freedom of Information Act.
The chief minister, Tony Brown, told the island’s parliament, the Tynwald, that an Access to Information bill was being drafted and would be introduced to its lower house, the House of Keys, in as part of the 2008-09 legislative programme.
Posted by
Paul McNally
on 27 May 2008 at 07:25
Tags: Law
An Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for downloading reports on women’s rights from the internet has said he is hopeful his conviction will be overturned.
More than 100,000 Independent readers have signed a petition calling for the release of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh. The paper says senior government officials believe his conviction was based on a misinterpretation of the law.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 23 May 2008 at 12:36
Tags: Freedom of Information, National Newspapers, Regional Newspapers
Conservative MP David MacLean, who last year sponsored a controversial private member’s bill to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act, is interviewed today in the Cumberland News.
Asked whether MPs’ shouldn’t be more accountable to the electorate about how they spend their allowances, MacLean said: “Yes, but not to that extent. It becomes grubby and salacious. People do have a right to know ‘Did I use taxpayers’ money improperly?’ but getting down to individual receipt items to see where you bought your pillowcases is just a bit silly. If we publish whether we bought pizza or fish and chips it won’t improve our standing.”
Maclean’s comments come on the day when receipts for 14 past and present MPs expenses are expected to be published following a High Court victory by three journalists who had requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.
According to the Telegraph, the Commons members Estimate Committee has also agreed to publish about 1 million receipts covering claims from all 646 MPs.
Posted by
Martin Stabe
on 23 May 2008 at 09:45
Tags: Broadcast, Freedom of Information, Journalism, Law, Magazines, National Newspapers, New Media, PR, Regional Newspapers
Police forces are spending nearly £40 million a year on public relations, a figure that has gone up 13 per cent over the past two years.
The figures where compiled by using Freedom of Information Act requests to all police forces in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Four forces failed to reply.
Heather Brooke, one of the journalists who last week won the high court vicotry forcing Parliament to hand over details of MPs’ expenses, supervised the three-month investigation.
In analysis piece run with the report, she writes: “Many forces now see it as their business not just to cut crime but to manage the public’s perception of crime. This is wrong. The police are paid to do one job: enforce the law. They have no business being in the PR racket.”
The Times notes concerns that as part of their PR efforts, some police forces are withholding information about serious crime in an effort to manipulate the news agenda.
Once of the police forces mentioned in the Times report is Northumbria Police, which has increased its PR spend by 55 per cent in two years. Freelance journalist Nigel Green has lodged an official complaint after finding that the force had failed to release details of many crimes to the media.
Update: A complete spreadsheet of the police spending figures is available on the website of freelance James Ball, who wrote the story (and who is a a frequent contributor to Press Gazette).
