As the slow march towards a new Supreme Court for the UK nears its destination, the Times has a piece about its newly refurbished premises:

The United Kingdom’s new Supreme Court will open its doors for business on October 1, with the first inbuilt facilities in Britain for broadcasting in court. … Broadcasting and internet arrangements are still to be devised but the three courts (two for the Supreme Court, one for the judicial committee of the Privy Council) can be filmed, a first in England and Wales.

As the BBC story on the completion of the refurbishment emphasises, the “decision to televise events from inside the court’s three chambers is a first for England and Wales”. And the Guardian quotes Jenny Rowe, the Court’s Chief Executive as saying that they are “in advanced discussions with broadcasters about the material they will want to use … If broadcasters wish to show it we will make it available”.

I think that it is a splendid idea. As the Canadian blawgs Slaw and the Court point out, since February 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada has provided live streaming of oral arguments and judges’ questions in authorized cases. The whole experiment is working well, and doing the same in the UK is an excellent development. When will the Irish Supreme Court follow suit? Will it ever catch on here? It can only help to promote public confidence in the administration of justice at the highest level. After all, not only would justice be done, it would be seen to be done.

Jörges hands over the Charter to Reding (Photo: EUobserver)

On 25 May 25 2009, 48 editors-in-chief and leading journalists from 19 countries adopted and signed the European Charter on Freedom of the Press in Hamburg. In ten articles, the Charter formulates principles for the freedom of the press from government interference. Yesterday, the Charter was presented to the EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media (hat tip: European Media Blog; see EU press relase).

From the EUobserver:

European press freedom charter launched

In an effort to counter increasing worries about infringement of press freedom by governments in Europe, both within the EU and beyond, the editor-in-chief of Germany’s weekly Stern magazine [Hans-Ulrich Jörges], together with EU media commissioner Viviane Reding on Tuesday (9 June) celebrated the launch of the European Charter on Freedom of the Press … In March, the Open Society Institute’s media programme – a pressure group focussing on media freedom in emerging democracies – criticised the European Commission in a report that argued that broadcasting across Europe, particularly in the east but also in Italy, is undergoing a “counter-reformation” – a backsliding towards overt political control after the post-Cold War period, when leaders relaxed their grip on TV and radio. … The European Commission came in for criticism for not holding new EU member states to account after promises concerning media freedom were made ahead of accession. …

The European Charter on Freedom of the Press provides: Read the rest of this entry »

Today is World Press Freedom Day. According to Koïchiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO [with added links]:

Every year, World Press Freedom Day provides an opportunity to affirm the importance of freedom of expression and press freedom – a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On World Press Freedom Day 2009 UNESCO is highlighting the potential of the media to foster dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation …

The World Association of Newspapers has an excellent website for the day, on the theme of Journalists in the Firing Line:

As they investigate sensitive issues, unveil disturbing truths and question policies, journalists find themselves in the firing line of those directly or indirectly exposed by their reports. … On World Press Freedom Day, the World Association of Newspapers will present the story of many journalists whose work upsets and can sometimes undo the powerful. What do they report on, how and at what price? …

The position worldwide is disquieting. First Amendment Law Prof reproduces some sobering statisticss from the annual Freedom House report (pdf | html, from which the map of press freedom at the start of this paragraph is taken):

* 2009 marked the seventh straight year in declining press freedom worldwide;
* over 80% of the world’s inhabitants live in a country where the press is either “not free” or only “partly free” to operate;
* Israel, Italy and Hong Kong, fell to “partly free” because of increased threats to media independence and diversity;
* the U.S. fell one spot to #18 for the same reason;
* Iraq, at #148, is still “not free.”

According to the tables (pdf), the free-est is Iceland, and the least free is North Korea; Ireland is equal fourteenth worldwide, and twelfth in Western Europe. But this is no reason for complacency. On the Index on Censorship blog yesterday, Michael Foley wrote:

It might be fanciful, but what better way to celebrate World Press Freedom Day than for governments to acknowledge the fundamental and central role journalism plays in democracy and in creating a democractic culture. Would it not be good if on this day governments said they would desist from announcing legislation that slowly chips away at press freedom?

In Ireland we are about to have a blasphemy law and privacy legislation introduced, unless, in the unlikely event, there is a successful campaign against it. We have seen our freedom of information legislation made less effective and editors have been harrassed in order to have sources revealed. The press has waited 18 years for libel reform, since a Law Reform Commission recommended changes in 1991. …

Safer Internet Day takes place each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of internet and mobile phone technologies; this year, it’s today, 10 February (last year’s is blogged here). An excellent contribution to this issue is the ongoing EU Kids Online project at the LSE, funded by the EU’s Safer Internet plus Programme.

As the Irish contribution to Safer Internet Day, the Office for Internet Safety, the National Centre for Technology in Education, the National Parents Council (Primary), Childline, and the Hotline will host a joint Safer Internet Day event in Dublin to launch a TV and online awareness raising campaign focusing on the issue of cyberbullying.

Updates: media reports: BBC | Guardian | Irish Times | Telegraph | Times Online | Silicon Republic | Sydney Morning Herald | Mathias Klang. Also: Social networking firms sign up to kids’ protection deal | Safer social networking and self regulation | Kids online: Parents need to regulate, says Ofcom.

Quick comment: this is all well and good, but every day should be safer internet day.

Regular readers of this blog will know that section 20(4) of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960 (also here) and section 10(3) of the Radio and Television Act, 1988 (also here) as amended by section 65 of the Broadcasting Act, 2001 (also here) prohibit broadcast advertising in Ireland directed to any religious or political end (see here | here | here | here | here | here).

Edit: The remainder of this long post discusses the validity of such bans in the US, the ECHR, Ireland and the UK, by way of background three recent developments: debate about a failure to take a current legislative opportunity to amend the Irish legislation, another ban on an Irish religious advertisement, and an ECHR decision striking down a political advertising ban. Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s Irish Independent Politicians, not public, want laws on privacy

Politicians are ‘crusading’ for stricter privacy laws despite just one-in-five formal complaints coming from the public. A survey of Irish journalism reveals that two thirds of privacy complaints against newspapers and broadcasters come from public figures, particularly politicians, with only one fifth from private citizens. …

From today’s Irish Times Privacy issue tops media complaints list, study shows

News reporting in the Irish media is virtually free of gratuitous racism, a symposium on ethics and journalism heard yesterday. Journalist Dr Simon Bourke told the conference at Dublin City University that no complaint of racism had ever been upheld by the Press Council or Broadcasting Complaints Commission … Dr Bourke presented to yesterday’s meeting his analysis of ethical controversies involving the media since 1973. Allegations of invasion of privacy emerged as the single largest issue, accounting for 71 of the 140 cases identified. …

From today’s Irish Times ‘We know dirt sells,’ says owner of photo agency

“We just want to make as much money as possible, we know dirt sells,” Ray Senior, owner of photo agency VIP Ireland, told the symposium. His agency pursues photographs of celebrities.

From the DCU news website yesterday Ethics and Journalism – symposium hosted by DCU School of Communications

DCU’s School of Communications today hosted a symposium on the topic of ‘Ethics and Journalism’ which was attended by academics as well as print and broadcast journalists. … Simon Bourke, the author of ‘Taking the free-speech temperature: Irish libel law and newspaper journalism‘, has just completed his PhD on ‘Ethical trends in Irish journalism, 1973 to 2008′. The findings of his research showed the following:

- Historically, a large majority of complaints of ‘unethical journalism’ in all forums had no identifiable ethical basis. …

- Of complaints with an arguably ethical basis, invasion of privacy (54%) and intrusion upon grief (28%) and conflict of interest (7%) formed the bulk. …

- The evidence suggests that the emphasis on privacy issues in the public discourse on journalistic ethics is being led by public figures and, particularly, by politicians. Two-thirds of invasion of privacy complaints in all forums were from public figures. One-third came from private citizens, and only a fifth (21%) actually concerned private citizens. …

From an article in The Times by Alex Wade (who blogs as Surf Nation):

Legal blogs: isn’t it time British lawyers staked their claim in the blogosphere?

Should law firms have blogs? In America they are all the rage. Just about every self-respecting law professor has one, many firms believe them to be a must-have accoutrement, and even one or two judges have got in the act.

In Britain only a handful of legal practitioners maintain blogs, but as society increasingly embraces the Web 2.0 world of interactivity, collaboration and social networking, isn’t it time that UK firms staked their claim in the blogosphere? …

It may be, too, that the embedded right to freedom of expression in American society, in contrast to Britons’ tendency to discretion (exemplified, arguably, in our highly developed libel laws), is another factor in transatlantic enthusiasm for the blogosphere.

I’m sure exactly the same questions can be asked in Ireland. Read the rest of this entry »

… here’s a little light relief.