Monthly Archives: December 2010

Season’s greetings

Posted on December 23, 2010 by jtownend

This blog will take a bit of a break over the Xmas period. It’s still a young blog and I’d appreciate ideas for how to develop it. What kinds of topics would be people like to see covered? Would a … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Twilence in court! Judge allows reporters to tweet during Assange hearing

Posted on December 14, 2010 by jtownend

Forgive the poor headline, but worth flagging up that according to Times media reporter Alexi Mostrous, the judge has given him permission to tweet from Westminster magistrates court during Wikileaks editor Julian Assange’s appeal for bail. Mostrous writes on Twitter: … Continue reading →

Posted in courts, digital open justice | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Injunctions and how the media finds out about them

Posted on December 10, 2010 by jtownend

It’s time to re-visit the question of injunctions and how one finds out about them. No centralised database exists and Ministry of Justice plans for one have been shelved, as first revealed here. But an anonymised case last month sheds … Continue reading →

Posted in media law, super injunctions | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How local journalists overturned a Section 39 order

Posted on December 9, 2010 by jtownend

What happens, as a journalist, when you think a court order should be challenged? It’s something I started to look into for a piece on courts transparency earlier this year. Ed Walker, online communities editor at Media Wales (publisher of … Continue reading →

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Making council meetings more transparent: legal issues?

Posted on December 9, 2010 by jtownend

As reported by Roy Greenslade and Journalism.co.uk, London’s Southwark Council has agreed to allow audio  recordings of its meetings, following a request by local news site London SE1. Videoing will require prior consent of the mayor. The move raises two … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, hyperlocal publishing, press freedom | Tagged | 2 Comments

The myth of buried newspaper corrections?

Posted on December 3, 2010 by jtownend

Do newspapers try to hide their corrections?  It’s just a myth that they do, according to the Editors’ Code Committee secretary Ian Beales, speaking about a new amendment to the code (Clause 1 (ii)), which will see editors negotiate the … Continue reading →

Posted in media regulation, newspapers, press freedom | Tagged | 1 Comment

Notes on media law for the little guy

Posted on December 2, 2010 by jtownend

Yesterday the Brighton and Hove Community Reporters group kindly invited me to speak at their December meeting, which marked the project’s first birthday. I was there to talk about some research I did over the summer, about legal issues for … Continue reading →

Posted in events, media law, media law resources, social media, social networking | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Video from Reframing Libel Symposium

Posted on December 1, 2010 by jtownend

Last month, as previously reported on this blog, leading lawyers, academics and journalists debated the future shape of libel reform at the Reframing Libel event at City University London. The BBC College of Journalism has kindly made its video footage … Continue reading →

Posted in defamation, digital open justice, events, media law | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘Fair comment’ is now ‘honest comment’

Posted on December 1, 2010 by jtownend

A judgment handed down in the Supreme Court today will change the treatment of opinions in defamation cases. The press summary issued by the court [PDF link] explains that the Supreme Court has unanimously allowed an appeal in the Spiller … Continue reading →

Posted in defamation, media law | Tagged , | 1 Comment