Tuesday 3 December 2013

Deal Or No Deal: the Murdoch factor and our democratic deficit

Deal Or No Deal: the Murdoch factor and our democratic deficit | openDemocracy: "It was surprising that the astute lawyers inside News Corp - who were copied on so many of the Michel emails - did not warn him that he was in danger of undermining the validity of the quasi-judicial process, such that it might be open to judicial review if the outcome were favourable to News Corp. Smith warned Michel, immediately after Hunt was put in charge of the plurality review, against giving News Corp's opponents a chance to attack the fairness of the process." Account of the failed 2011 News-BSkyB merger 'via Blog this'

A Year after Leveson: Has British press cleaned up its act?

A Year after Leveson: Has British press cleaned up its act? – Des Freedman | Inforrm's Blog: "weaknesses of the Leveson Inquiry, which heard a vast amount of evidence about the extent of corporate lobbying and intimate relations between media executives and ministers but shied away from making any meaningful changes to media ownership rules that might make individual companies less powerful" - and even less likely in the run-up to the 2015 General Election! 'via Blog this'

Putitstin v Ukraine: ECtHR recognises claims for defamation of the dead

Case Law, Strasbourg, Putitstin v Ukraine: court recognises claims for defamation of the dead – Hugh Tomlinson QC | Inforrm's Blog: "this decision opens up the possibility that Article 8 may, in appropriate circumstances, permit a claim to be brought for “defamation of the dead”.  In this case the applicant’s father was not named and only a person with detailed knowledge of the history would have understood the article to be alleging that he had collaborated with the Gestapo.  It seems clear, however, that a serious defamatory allegation against a recently deceased person could constitute a breach of the family’s Article 8 rights. This is, potentially, a radical new development." 'via Blog this'