Tuesday, 5 December 2023

Media Quotes of the Year 2023: InPublishing





It was a year marked by reporters covering conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, Rupert Murdoch stepping down, AI threatening journalists’ jobs and press freedom under pressure. My Media Quotes of the Year are up on InPublishing. You can read them here.

Sunday, 13 August 2023

Press Freedom in the UK: The costs of libel actions

 


I've written a new article for InPublishing magazine on press freedom, which you can read here.  As press freedom in the UK has no constitutional protection, there is a constant battle to fight off restrictions. There are some victories tempered by defeats but over it all looms the massive costs and financial risks of libel actions.

The article covers an unlikely press freedom hero who brought down a former Government minister over his tax affairs despite legal threats; how the notorious leader of the Wagner Group was able to sue a journalist in the UK; a privacy victory for the BBC; journalists wrongly arrested and detained by the police while covering demonstrations; and how the defamation laws could be reformed.