As a PhD student I’m now revelling in the luxury of paid-for legal services that were previously out of bounds to the average punter. This is why legal blogging is so important – it communicates the stuff behind the paywalls to a wider audience.

I found the relatively new blog Inforrm a very useful bridge before I got hold of a university log-in, but even with my newly acquired access to legal journals, the site remains an extremely useful way of digesting media law news.

Informm has written an introductory guide to blogging in the UK, referencing several other blog lists, which I heartily recommend. It includes its “personal suggestions for of UK blawgs – focussed on those at the ‘serious’ end of the scale, providing useful (and regularly updated) information for practitioners or with some relevance to those with an interest in media related legal issues.”

In today’s media round-up Inforrm picks up on the BBC’s report about a solicitor’s firm which says it has “taken forward six defamation actions involving Facebook in the last nine months.”

Richard Wilson, blogger at Don’t Get Fooled Again, has rightly criticised the article for some of its flaws (via Twitter) but even at the risk of exacerbating the problem, I’m glad to see the issue raised.

There needs to be investigation in this area, but from very informal anecdotal evidence, I’d say that many Facebook users are unware of the libel risks. This is something that should be addressed, through further research and better online guidance.