Media law and ethics » lord mcalpine

Law and Media Round Up – 26 November 2012

jtownend — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:58:09 +0000

Here’s the link to this week’s law and media round up on Inforrm’s Blog: on the McAlpine libel cases, the much-anticipated Leveson Inquiry report (due out on Thursday 29 November) and much more …

The BBC and ‘tragedies of the fourth estate’

jtownend — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:28:39 +0000

There’s an excellent piece by Paul Lashmar, investigative journalist and lecturer at Brunel University, on openDemocracy this week, examining the role of – and implications for – investigative journalism in the recent ‘BBC debacle’. I was particularly interested in the section dealing with the editorial decision not to run Newsnight investigation into Jimmy Savile and the notion of “anticipatory compliance“:

What was going on in Peter Rippon’s mind? By that point he must have been aware of the potential embarrassment for the BBC if Newsnight accused the late Savile of being a paedophile just as the BBC entertainment launched a hagiographic “Savile Christmas” of tributes. Was it anticipatory compliance where Rippon intuited what he thought his bosses would want? One insider says they think Rippon picked up on a passing comment by head of News, Helen Boaden, saw it as straw in the wind and decided to kill the investigation. We may never know the answer to this question. The Newsnight editor did not help himself with his blog which inaccurately recorded that the story was about the police investigation into Savile, not the actual Savile allegations. He looked like a man distancing himself from his own decision. One of the lessons to come out of this sorry affair is that the considered nature of investigative journalism and off the cuff casualness of social media are poor bedfellows.

Full piece on openDemocracy’s ourBeeb site…

Law and Media Round Up – 19 November 2012: Lord McAlpine, Smith v Trafford Housing Trust, Google’s latest Transparency Report

jtownend — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:55:58 +0000

Lots to report in this week’s round up: an apology and damages to Lord McAlpine from the BBC, the latest Transparency Report from Google, news that the Principal of St Mary’s University College in Twickenham has dropped its legal action against a Catholic news website, and freedom of expression and belief issues in Smith v Trafford Housing Trust.

Read full round up on the Inforrm blog at this link…

Law and Media Round Up – 12 November 2012

jtownend — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:05:32 +0000

Since writing this, there have already been new developments in the unfolding crisis at the BBC following its Newsnight programme on child abuse. But this is the media law week that was, rounded up here:

Law and Media Round Up – 12 November 2012 « Inforrm’s Blog.