Monthly Archives: July 2011

Media law mop up: Hackgate the movie; courts data contracts; Mensch / Morgan spat

Posted on July 24, 2011 by

Interwoven in the phone hacking tapestry are numerous rivalries, arguments and personal battles. Louise Mensch MP and Piers Morgan ended up fighting it out on CNN last week, with Lord Sugar having his say too. BBC business correspondent Robert Peston … Continue reading →

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Recent changes to Justice.gov.uk; plans to improve search and content

Posted on July 22, 2011 by

Earlier this week I reported on how courts data is handled by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, with details of the contracts between the MoJ, Courtel and Bailii. When I was researching the issue in June I asked the Ministry … Continue reading →

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Guest post by Barry Turner: 'Phone Hacking – more regulation is not the answer'

Posted on July 21, 2011 by

Guest post: The future of regulation as seen by Barry Turner, senior lecturer in media law, the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism, Nottingham Trent University At last Friday’s dramatic press conference the Prime Minister announced that two inquiries would be … Continue reading →

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Operation Motorman and its relevance to phone hacking fiasco

Posted on July 21, 2011 by

The Information Commissioner’s Operation Motorman and the subsequent reports, ‘What Price Privacy?’ and ‘What Price Privacy Now?’ are back in the news today despite being published in 2006. Why? Well, five years later, the BBC reports that police have asked … Continue reading →

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Who holds our courts data? FoIs reveal HM Courts’ exclusive contracts

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

Courts data is public, right? Well no, not quite. Hearings and judgments might be public, but information about them can be difficult to access. The HM Courts and Tribunals service does publish daily case listings for many courts here, on … Continue reading →

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Media law mop up: Andy Hayman – 'Good god! Absolutely not. I can't believe you suggested that'

Posted on July 14, 2011 by

Another week consumed by phone hacking speculation and news. It’s very odd to see the story dominate the television and print headlines, when so many key developments were ignored by the majority of media outlets during 2009/10. Policeman turned columnist … Continue reading →

Posted in media ethics, media law mop-up, media law resources, phone hacking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Hyperlocal: the regulatory and legal challenges

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

Damian Radcliffe, nations and communities manager at Ofcom, has conducted some very useful research into hyperlocal definitions and trends, available on Slideshare: While independent news sites fall outside the Ofcom regulatory framework, he explained why local news consumption patterns matter … Continue reading →

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Media law mop up: Phone hacking – what else?

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

In July 2009 Nick Davies of the Guardian began to report new allegations of phone hacking at News of the World. Voicemail interception by the Sunday red-top wasn’t a new story, but these specific allegations were – despite the Press … Continue reading →

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News of the World to close but the phone hacking story doesn't stop here

Posted on July 7, 2011 by

In the most dramatic development of the phone hacking scandal, since Guardian journalist Nick Davies broke his Gordon Taylor story in July 2009, it has been announced that News of the World is to close this Sunday after 168 years … Continue reading →

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New ‘Hacked Off’ campaign to call for public phone hacking inquiry

Posted on July 4, 2011 by

A new campaign led by the Media Standards Trust will call for a public inquiry into phone hacking, Brian Cathcart has revealed. In an article for Index on Censorship, he reports: For the past few weeks I have been working … Continue reading →

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