Pell trial reporters, a judge and a media lawyer on why the suppression order debate is far from over
The Conversation, CC BY79,9 Mo(download)
On the day George Pell was sentenced, several experts with wide-ranging experiences of suppression orders discussed how they affect the public’s right to know and whether the laws should be reformed.
The ACCC would like closer scrutiny of digital platforms such as Facebook and Google – in particular with regards to user privacy, market power and operational algorithms.
Rebel Wilson’s large damages award for defamation is a salutary lesson that defaming a celebrity with an international profile can lead to a substantial payout for the economic harm done.
The proposed anti-siphoning changes certainly shift the economic balance from free-to-air to pay-TV, as well as from government intervention in the sport TV market to more open market play.
In many cases, a reference will contain negative things about its subject. This is part of a reference’s design: the referee should give a full and frank assessment.
The revelation that PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel financed the Hulk’s lawsuit against Gawker raises important questions in the battle between privacy and a free press.
When Channel Nine was implicated in an illegal ‘child recovery’ operation, many would have assumed the media regulator would investigate. Yet Australian broadcasting standards are so limited there will probably be no independent inquiry at all.
Indonesia’s media landscape may be a model which Australia is emulating as it looks to change media ownership laws. There are positives to this, but also causes for concern.
Hulk Hogan is suing Gawker for $100 million in a case that not only could bankrupt the media empire known for its gossip but could erode the First Amendment as well.
Hockey v Fairfax illustrates that recent legal and technological developments still pose challenges for defamation law, which has not been reformed to keep pace with these changes.
The elephant in the room in the just-concluded defamation case between Joe Hockey and Fairfax Media was the actual story being attacked. Media organisations ought to be able to instigate the debate without fear of reprisals by litigious politicians.