It was a big year for media and the law. Rupert Murdoch’s tacky tabloid, News of the World, closed after revelations of widespread phone hacking. The UK government released a draft Libel Reform Bill. Australia came closer to a tort of privacy, defamation trials dwindled, documentary cameras entered Australian criminal courts and everyone had something to say about the uniform Defamation Act ... more

In the wake of the courts’ greater willingness to grant suppression and non-publication orders, the NSW Court of Appeal has come down strongly in support of open justice. Richard Ackland casts his eye over the legal landscape, and the judgment ... more

Should journalists be accredited? Who qualifies as “responsible”? And what, if any, privileges should be extended to journalists? In this piece, which first appeared in Inforrm, Hugh Tomlinson QC continues his examination of the nature, role and regulation of journalistic practice ... more

Who’s off to the High Court … Victoria Police stopped in their tracks by The Age ... The long road to judgment … Former Dean of the Conservatorium of Music claims damage to international reputation … Fresh defamation action against the Fin Review, Nine and Seven ... more

NSW Court of Criminal Appeal finds that “offensive” letters sent by a Muslim cleric to the families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are not protected by Lange qualified privilege ... more

The second edition of Patrick George’s Defamation Law in Australia was recently launched by the now former Commonwealth Attorney General, Robert McClelland. Sydney University Professor of Law Barbara McDonald was there and agreed to review the tome ... more

NSW Supreme Court Justice Henric Nicholas refuses to strike out Lange defence pleaded by The Courier Mail ... Alan Jones ordered to answer questions forthwith … The Australian wins truth case, loses indemnity costs argument ... more

NSW Court of Appeal rejects an unusual common law qualified privilege defence argument for The Korean Times, but reduces damages awarded to a Strathfield solicitor by $20,000 ... more

Submissions to the NSW Attorney General’s review of the Defamation Act (2005) are now closed. In this report Brigit Morris summarises some of the key criticisms and recommendations from a range of interested parties ... more

The RSPCA in NSW has been awarded damages of $100,000 over website allegations of cruelty to animals, misconduct and misuse of public donations. The website’s author, Mal Davies, was also ordered to stop posting defamatory material ... more

NSW Court of Appeal upholds both forms of qualified privilege in a case involving police uttering defamatory statements … No evidence that they were motivated by malice … more

How far should protection of journalists go as the lines between journalist and citizen bloggers become increasingly blurred? ... Inforrm’s Hugh Tomlinson QC looks at existing laws and discusses the difficulty of determining who should get protection, and what kind ... more

Restaurateurs win appeal over unpalatable Matthew Evans review in The Sydney Morning Herald. NSW Court of Appeal fails the defences of comment and truth on the basis that Evans didn’t actually dine at one of the restaurants named ... more

The ABC in trouble over its hit miniseries Paper Giants ... Channel Nine wins truth case in Brisbane … Former press photographer Derick Sands loses another appeal … ACMA slaps Alan Jones over “turkey” rant … Trucking tycoon starts heavy action against Fairfax … Ship’s captain claims he wasn’t all at sea ... more

A man who was subjected to “hurtful, cruel, persistent and prolonged” accusations that he was a paedophile and a “wog” gets damages of $150,000 in the QLD District Court ... more