tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60652132024-03-13T06:55:02.422-07:00MEDIABEAKMediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.comBlogger330125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-20557524590784102702014-02-03T15:28:00.001-08:002014-02-03T15:29:25.727-08:00Libel season opens: Michelle Keegan v Mirror; Russell Brand v Sun on Sunday; J K Rowling v Daily Mail
The 2014 Libel season kicks off in style with three separate actions against three tabloids. As revealed by the Huffington Post today the main tabloids account for the majority of complaints to the Press Complaints Commission - the Daily Mail alone accounting for just over a third. So no surprise then that this past week has seen actions against the Daily Mail, Mirror and Sun on Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-55130374301849844102014-01-30T13:12:00.001-08:002014-01-30T13:24:10.402-08:00Italian court reinstates Knox and Sollecito guilty verdicts in Kercher
murderThe retrial of Knox and Sollecito for the murder of Metedith Kercher has returned a guilty verdict and seen the sentence increased. Latest from BBC News http://bbc.in/LffAnLThe verdict was received as a shock by some while welcomed by others and means Knox is now a fugitive. The case attracted massive media attention and so the appeal came as no huge surprise but the retrial that was Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-6843240191860879122014-01-23T14:44:00.003-08:002014-01-23T14:44:58.912-08:002014 Edelman Trust Barometer - trust in government 'decimated' - trust in media dented but still credible
The 14th Edelman Trust Barometer was unveiled to the great and good at Davos this week – as well as to the rest of us.The 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer revealed that the biggest decline was trust in government and business. While business trust levels remained largely flat, it was the ‘decimation in trust’ in government that led to a gap of 20 or more points in the majority of the 27 countries Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-80712584467888835222014-01-21T16:27:00.002-08:002014-01-21T16:27:48.060-08:00Privacy Law - Hollande and Gayet may raise questions but Finnish kiss'n'tell ruling provides answers
So we're several weeks on from the scooterboy revelations about French presidential peccadillos. Hollande seems to have gained some 'man' stripes for conforming to (stereo)type, Trierweiler is out of hospital and resting, Gayet is getting legal and over the Atlantic, Obama and Michelle are awaiting confirmation of which concubine Hollande will be bringing with him (if any) on his upcoming visitMediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-28760723594194058462014-01-16T09:02:00.001-08:002014-01-16T09:04:40.070-08:00Google loses privacy case. Court confirms 'misuse of private information' as a tort.
The UK High Court has today issued its judgment in the Vidal-Hall (and others v Google privacy case [2014] EWHC 13 (QB)
The case could have significant impact on Google and other browsers and will be welcomed by privacy campaigners as reining in the wide scope to which Google and others put people's browsing data to use.
Google was perhaps an obvious target but it is not just browsers Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-73550852761681841502014-01-12T14:37:00.000-08:002014-01-12T14:41:28.645-08:00Hollande (alleged) affair could prove pivotal for French privacy laws
After headlining across the international media at the end of this week and in spite of real news events such as the death of Ariel Sharon, the story of 'scooterboy' French President Francois Hollande and the exposee by Closer magazine of his alleged affair with actress Julie Gayet is still newsworthy - but why?
Stories or rumours about French politicians or even the President having affairs Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-75666992150471743082014-01-07T16:54:00.002-08:002014-01-07T16:56:58.603-08:00Twitter trolls plead guilty over Caroline Criado-Perez abuse but is the law working?
When feminist campaigner, Caroline Criado-Perez campaigned (successfully) to persuade the Bank of England to feature Jane Austen on a bank note (thereby preventing there being a male only line up) little could she have guessed the torrent of abuse and sinister spectre of trolls her actions would unleash. Following the Bank of England’s decision in July last year to agree to place Austen on one Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-91093700000482827382014-01-07T14:49:00.000-08:002014-01-07T14:49:04.261-08:00Schumacher's wife in privacy plea - what can she expect and the law do to protect?
Michael Schumacher's, or 'Schumi's' tragic ski accident has been world news for over a week now but to the extent his family may appreciate people's well-wishing, it's time to call time on 'Schumi-watch' and give his family and those treating him at the hospital in Grenoble a break from the spotlight.
Time for media to move on
While his family had expressed their appreciation of the good Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-73015376311089472832014-01-06T12:36:00.001-08:002014-01-06T12:53:10.150-08:00Ofcom: Rigby murder footage did not breach broadcast rules
In its latest Broadcast Bulletin published today, Ofcom has said that the use of graphic footage of the killing of Lee Rigby, did not, in the circumstances and context in which it was shown, breach the Ofcom Broadcast Code.
Various broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky had included footage taken by members of the public on their mobile phones directly at the murder scene in Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-82936750829073222342014-01-06T10:51:00.000-08:002014-01-06T11:19:18.132-08:00Big Exploding Rubber Duck in IP wrangle
Someone has to have a sense of humour (in this case Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman) if they think it's a great idea to create and tour a giant rubber duck around the globe. However this has proved to be one big bad duck as all has not gone well on the far east leg of its tour.
Aside from variously and inexplicably 'blowing up', the duck (or more precisely, the IP rights relating to it)Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-85287406282195396422014-01-05T15:06:00.001-08:002014-01-05T15:06:56.973-08:00Happy New Defamation Act
What better way to start the New Year than with some shiny new media law legislation? The 2013 Defamation Act came into force this week and follows hot on the heels (not!) of the previous 1952 and 1996 Defamation Acts (so the decades between Acts are shortening).
Discussion around the Bill and then the Act as well as coverage, from the learned to the banal, has been done to death so I will notMediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-2895416972538438692013-12-24T00:59:00.000-08:002013-12-23T17:16:07.319-08:00Paedophile mis-linkage: News aggregators need to address issue of identification and verification.
'H' from Steps, as I will choose to call him (and any PR would probably advise he chooses to be called going forward) has been hard hit and unfortunately so by the misfortune of having the same name as a repulsive paedophile who was recently jailed for 35 years (Ian Watkins). Unfortunately for 'H', he shares not only the same name but the same profession and even country of origin as his Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-13724350306120955952013-12-23T16:06:00.000-08:002013-12-23T16:06:05.524-08:00Nigella. Time to end the media mess and leave them to it. Police should not waste time investigating.
Much as I am loathe to write even more on this subject (given the excessive media exposure as analysed in my previous postings) I do feel compelled to add this short post.
Did Nigella take drugs? Yes - she admitted this under oath. Was she an habitual drug user? We don't know as all we have is circumstantial evidence and hearsay. Does the fact the jury at Isleworth Crown Court acquitted the Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-12025555074055816732013-12-20T18:59:00.000-08:002013-12-21T14:46:57.895-08:00Grillos cleared, Nigella smeared but the real crime was the process and PR that allowed this to happen
I'm happy to pin a view on this. I think the right result and correct verdict - in light of all the circumstances - was arrived at today. The jury had a tough decision and the judge had to navigate this trial through a media storm that detracted from the alleged crime being tried and focused the attention on a witness who was as much on trial as the defendants. Ultimately though one has to ask Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-17809395511962330292013-12-20T05:07:00.001-08:002013-12-20T05:07:16.946-08:00No surprise at Grillo verdict as trial was an abuse of process to use as a vehicle to get at Nigella
Now that the verdict is out the gloves can come off and we can really analyse this case - to which I will provide a follow-up posting later today (once checked more detail from today).
It all seemed to convenient. You had a high spending household (in the monetary sense) and assistants who were part of that spending and allowed to do some of that spending on themselves. The lines seem to have Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-34003470490403188372013-12-17T17:26:00.002-08:002013-12-17T17:44:28.209-08:00Forced caesarian highlights need for scrutiny over family courts
There is more than enough proof, this case providing a
pinnacle, that there needs to be scrutiny of the family courts. That does not
mean open season for salacious and selective reporting.
What strikes home with this case as no other is that whereas
there have been children taken into care, families split up, allegations of
abuse etc been made behind closed doors in the past, what we have Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-62638343097265502872013-12-17T16:31:00.000-08:002013-12-17T16:31:09.951-08:00Harry Styles secures court order to protect him and his hair from being pursued by paparazzi - what gives for privacy law?
The ex X Factor contestant and One Direction, or '1D' performer, Harry Styles, has secured an interesting court order aimed at preventing those nasty paparazzi types from hanging around his home or following and papping him in the street.
To many observers this may seem like another in the long line of 'celebrities' and others who are seeking to put a stop to being randomly pictured in the Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-83100360270682197652013-12-15T15:59:00.000-08:002013-12-15T15:59:00.257-08:00Express(ly) exploitative front pages
Some seven years on from the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the Express has still not got over its fixation, opportunism, or, giving it generous benefit of doubt, dogged determination to follow a story it believes in (rather than headline it knows will sell).
Today's 'revelation' is that a random Nato reconnaissance exercise had been going on over Portugal the very night Madeleine Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-72244634010133088332013-12-12T17:33:00.001-08:002013-12-12T17:33:15.617-08:00Nigella and the Grillo claims - the truth.
One would have thought that 'real' world news such as the death of Mandela would have managed to monopolise the Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-56861099795412087922013-12-11T15:52:00.002-08:002013-12-15T16:51:31.326-08:00Christmas jumper wars - design infringement claim ends up in court
As if Christmas jumpers were not silly enough, this week sees the Irish High Court faced with the tough decision as to whether one silly jumper infringes another.
As reported in the 'Crime and Law' section (no less) of the Irish Times, an Irish e-retail company, Zatori Results has brought an action claiming that Littlewoods has infringed the design for one of its jumpers Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-31406901366646823382013-12-10T15:42:00.000-08:002013-12-10T15:45:01.730-08:00Is it time to call time on Katie Hopkins?
Following internet outrage over her ill-timed and ill-thought through Twitter remarks in the wake of the Glasgow helicopter tragedy, The Daily Star has now thrown its weight (whatever its readership is) behind a 90,000 strong campaign to close down Katie Hopkins and have her 'banned from TV'.
[Picture borrowed from the Mirror - apologies, will take down if you object]
The sometime 'Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-76614077117487790062013-12-09T14:58:00.000-08:002013-12-09T16:03:24.174-08:00Law Commission proposals on juror misconduct are blind to the reality of the digital age
The Law Commission has proposed what, in the digital age, seem draconian measures that use threat of criminal sanction as a deterrent for jurors who turn to socially accepted and public domain technology to find out more about cases they are asked to deliberate on.
In the second of a three-part set of proposals which look at (overdue) reforms to the laws of contempt, the Law Commission has Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-58472275601976005062013-12-09T02:57:00.000-08:002013-12-09T15:45:26.163-08:00Nigella's trial by media makes mockery of contempt and defamation law
While the past weeks have supplied the media with ample headlines and the behind-the-scenes legal and PR advisers with handsome fees, there is a serious question that lies beneath the perfectly executed PR veneer of trial by media.
Is it right that what is ostensibly a criminal prosecution can be hijacked to seek to defame by shielding comment under the veil of legal privilege while at the Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-5648292597058122122013-12-08T14:38:00.000-08:002013-12-08T14:38:20.692-08:00Nigella nails it - Team Cupcake: 1 Saatchi: 0
The YouGov poll commissioned by The Sunday Times and the fact of its commissioning, reveal the risks and rewards of high stakes PR poker.
The masthead neatly nestled beneath an advert for 'Ultimate Cookbook' (featuring Nigella Lawson) confirms that she has won 'in the court of pubic opinion'. The headline itself tells a tale insofar as what was witnessed at Isleworth Crown Court this week Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6065213.post-20391672688987204232013-12-04T15:15:00.000-08:002013-12-08T14:38:52.872-08:00Nigella drugs smear backfires on Saatchi
Isleworth Crown Court was, orginally, hearing a fraud case relating to the spending of Lawson and Saatchi's personal assistants, the Grillo sisters. Today it was transformed into the high profile celebrity case normally played out in the High Court as Nigella (aka head of 'Team Cupcake') took to the stand.
She was, one would have thought, meant to be giving evidence relating to the actions of Mediabeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158474201230425980noreply@blogger.com1