Should agencies be punished for breaching the OIA?
Friday, March 20th, 2009Stephen Franks makes an interesting comment in response to my post below, where I argued that the Department of Corrections breached the Official Information Act. Should agencies be punished for wilful breaches? (There are no sanctions for breach of the OIA, except criticism from the Ombudsmen). Are we becoming increasingly disdainful of laws that can’t […]
OIA and the Department of Corrections
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009You might have seen me on One News last Friday, commenting on the Department of Corrections’ response to TVNZ’s Official Information Act request. I was pretty critical of the department, who had provided minimal information. Either they genuinely didn’t know the answers, which was mind-boggling, I said, or they were lying about it. TVNZ used […]
Media harassment
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009UK popster Lily Allen has obtained an order against paparazzi under the UK’s Protection from Harassment Act. Our Harassment Act contains similar provisions for anti-harassment orders. I’m not aware of any being used against the media here yet, but harassment is widely defined, and journalists or photographers who persistently hound people (including by accosting them […]
Bouquets
Monday, March 16th, 2009Mediawatch this weekend was terrific. I think it’s absolutely at it’s best when it’s exposing serious media lapses. The two that Mediawatch highlighted this week illustrate what I think are two of the most common ethical failings: leaving things out because the story is sexier without it (as in the case of the surf rescue […]
Sign up for Media Law conference
Friday, March 13th, 2009Lexis Nexus is running its annual media law conference in Auckland on 17 April 2009. I’ll be chairing it. It covers many of the hot issues in media law, including suppression, contempt, defamation, privacy, and from a range of angles – people involved in the litigation itself, academics analysing the end results, and journalists trying to […]
Geddis on Crow
Friday, March 13th, 2009My mate Andrew Geddis has been sparring with me a bit in the comments section on this blog, and is always good value. In this thoughtful post at Pundit, Andrew rightly takes on the Auckland City Council for trying to do an end-run around the NZ Bill of Rights Act in its attempt to squelch […]
Sentences for sale
Thursday, March 12th, 2009Private prisons in the US have bribed judges to lock up more offenders so they can receive more money for incarcerating them. Only in the US? Or should it be part of the debate here about privatising prisons? [Update: I see TV One News did raise this point in a report last night.]
OK! magazine fakes front cover photo
Thursday, March 12th, 2009More grist for those worried about digital manipulation. OK! has a front page photo of Cheryl Cole with her arm around Victoria Beckham (click on the magnifying glass at bottom right for the whole photo) to illustrate its story about the two making up. But it’s a montage. They weren’t even at the same event. […]
ECHR upholds ongoing defamation liability for internet
Thursday, March 12th, 2009One of the rules of defamation law is that each separate publication of something that’s defamatory gives rise to separate liability. So each time someone downloads a defamatory article, there’s a fresh publication and a new potential lawsuit. You can see how this might give rise to some headaches for news archives. However, an attempt […]
New draft broadcasting code for TV
Monday, March 9th, 2009The BSA has released a new draft of the free-to-air TV code for public consultation. The proposed changes are conveniently set out alongside the existing provisions. The changes that leap out at me: 1. Balance is renamed “Controversial issues – viewpoints”. But the substance remains the same (it has to: it’s in the Broadcasting Act). […]
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