As an activity, journalism cannot and should not be licensed by the state or any professional body, any more than art or political protest should.
There is nothing worse than being accused of something you didn't do. Well, there is. Being convicted of something you didn't do. But if members of the police force, left-leaning commentators and senior lawyers are to be believed, the worst thing right now is to be identified as a potential wrong-doer.
The ten thing you need to know on Thursday 2 May 2013... 1) DAVE'S EURO CAMBLE Polling stations are now open across England for council election...
What business is it of ours if Mr David Sherborne, barrister to the victims of phone hacking and other alleged press abuses at the Leveson Inquiry, stamps his feet, warbles his throat and unfurls his tail feathers to attract a mate? If a relationship is explored during a public inquiry between two counsel on different sides of such a high profile event then there is a genuine public interest in the timing and extent of those rituals.
The Royal Charter on the press that was approved by all parties in Parliament on 18 March will benefit the public in many ways. The Charter, which is based on the recommendations of the year-long Leveson Inquiry and has the support of many victims of press abuses, creates a framework for press self-regulation that meets basic regulatory standards.
The ten things you need to know on Monday 29 April 2013... 1) 'A COLLECTION OF CLOWNS AND ANGRY PEOPLE' Two things have become clear over the pa...
The politicians' draft Royal Charter is supposed to be a wizard wheeze to entrench "voluntary independent self-regulation", Judge Leveson's Orwellian oxymoron, without crossing David Cameron's Rubicon into statutory regulation. Of course, it does nothing of the kind. It is state regulation by any other name.
When you've been untouchable and all powerful and have successfully fought off seven previous government attempts to put an end to press abuse, you don't give your power up lightly. So the announcement that three newspaper groups have "rejected" the Royal Charter, recently agreed by a united House of Commons, is not surprising.
John Whittingdale, the chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, has said the proposals from the newspaper industry for a system of ...
The newspaper industry today firmly rejected the government's plans for the future of press regulation and published its own proposal for a Royal Char...
This is not a story that can be understood from headlines alone, partly because in Britain the headlines have so often wildly distorted the truth. Despite what you may have read, there is no threat by British politicians to interfere with press freedom. There is, however, a powerful consensus for change.
As a practicing lawyer frequently representing a cross-section of victims ranging from A-listers to politicians, while at the same time also having a significant number of journalists and publishers on my client list, I often have to change hats when arguing for press freedom on the one hand, and striving to protect the basic reputational and other rights of the ordinary man on the street on the other.
There is no doubt that Michael Philpott is a uniquely revolting piece of work, of the type that shames our species, but the Mail's disgustingly manipulative attempt to use the horrendous deaths of six children as a vindication of the Coalition's ruthless victimisation of the unemployed, is no less repellent.
Liberty's website declares on its home page "Working to PROTECT CIVIL LIBERTIES, and PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS for everyone". But does that "everyone" not include journalists?
What has been quite remarkable since the prime minister did his u-turn on press regulation is how support has moved away from the Hacked Off lobbyists, and towards those concerned that the PM's 'dab' of legislation does indeed cross the Rubicon.
Sky News should be allowed to be as politically biased as it wants, according to an influential group of peers - a proposal rejected by the head of th...
The royal charter system for the future regulation of the press agreed by David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband is probably "illegal under Europea...
The press are in a frightful tizz about their freedoms. They implore the public to come to their aid and save them from the ignominious fate of being tethered by rules and - what are they called? - standards. Yes, that's it: standards.
What do you reckon George Osborne is regretting most about the past week? The loopholes in the latest Budget, or his decision to join Twitter a few hours before he presented it? Twitter isn't exactly the most welcoming of destinations for public figures - it's not exactly the friendliest of places for anyone with more than about 43 followers - but jump on in and you never know, the water might be warm... or shark infested if you're the Chancellor of the Exchequer. If you were feeling in the tiniest bit victimized this week, take just six seconds to browse the memes devoted to Georgie's first Twitter pic and I guarantee you'll feel a whole lot better about yourself.
There is, in fact, a very easy way to ensure that journalists don't break the law: get the police to do the job they're paid to do, rather than taking back-handers, sometimes several thousands of pounds, from reporters looking for a good story. It really is as simple as that.
The problem now for Rupert Murdoch, Paul Dacre and the Barclay brothers, who between them control most of the British press, is that the British public have got their number. Most people now know what's been going on and they don't like it. Until recently, Murdoch controlled the government and, disgracefully, sections of the police. At the same time, he and his UK employees repeatedly told us that phone hacking had involved only one rogue reporter. Newscorp, he said, had "zero tolerance" of wrongdoing. We now know that was untrue.
Yes, that was the week that was. The week that George Osborne produced his red briefcase once again - and also joined Twitter. The week that the Po...
Michael Gove has indicated he is unhappy with the proposals to regulate the press and said he only voted in favour of the plan as he felt he had to as...
The US newspaper that helped expose the phone-hacking scandal has slated proposed new controls for Britain's press. The New York Times said the "un...
After much toing and froing a deal has finally been struck between the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party regarding press regulation. Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband's proposal has been scrapped, and both have claimed a substantial victory.
