Sunday Star-Times looks to be in contempt
Sunday, March 27th, 2011Publishing interviews with jurors about the case they have decided is a contempt of court. Our courts have said that if jurors thought their deliberations may be made public, they’d be less willing to serve on a jury and less willing to be frank during deliberations. Revisiting cases may also upset the finality of jury verdicts. […]
Er
Friday, March 18th, 2011Shouldn’t some journalists be asking the government, and Rodney Hide in particular, whether the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act follows the principles in the Regulatory Standards Bill…?
The earthquake privacy debate continues
Friday, March 18th, 2011The Court Report last week featured a debate over the quake coverage and whether it may have invaded the privacy of some of the victims. (I reprise my role as reporter for the show, and interview Tim Watkin from TVNZ and pundit.co.nz, who defends the coverage). On the panel are VUW senior lecturer Dr Nicole Moreham, […]
Laws unto himself
Friday, March 18th, 2011Michael Laws comes up with a brilliant, savage parody of what a deranged right-winger might think about the case of Arie Smith. Genius.
You’ve got to be joking
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011Okay, when you’re part of a trash-talking video barracking for Crawley Town in its upcoming fixture with Manchester United, it’s offensive to make airplane crashy dance gestures referencing the famous 1958 tragedy that killed eight Man United players. (Watch the plonker on the right). But it is surely not criminal. Or so I would have thought. But no, […]
God Loves Hate Speech
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011The vile Westboro Baptist Church, whose favoured method of proselytising is picketing funerals with signs like “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God For Dead Soldiers” has won its appeal in the United States Supreme Court against a $10 million damages award. The 8-1 majority said the speech was in a public forum, on a matter […]
The personal touch
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011The US Supreme Court might have decided that corporations have speech rights, but it has just ruled that (in the context of freedom of information, anyway) they don’t have privacy rights. Under the US federal Freedom of Information Act, information can be withheld if its disclosure “could reasonably be expected to consistitute an unwarranted invasion […]
The Wikileaks Papers
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011Who said this, and when? It’s time to quit making national heroes of those who steal public secrets and publish them in the newspaper? When whole filing cabinets can be stolen there can’t be orderly government any more. He’s offering aid and comfort to the enemy, putting himself above the President, Congress and the whole […]
OIA-rony
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011The Independent Police Conduct Commissioner has criticised the police for releasing files relating to the charges against Tony Veitch that he didn’t plead guilty to. She found that the police should have kept their promise to contact Veitch before releasing the 358 documents. And, in fact, they shouldn’t have released the documents at all. The […]
Churnalism exposed
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011Take a look at this fascinating website that calculates and graphically displays the amount of UK journalism taken directly from press releases. Hat-tip: Inforrm.
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