Category: Media Matters

National newspapers in Britain have proposed their own “Royal Charter” for media self-regulation in response to the one approved last week by parliament … This Inforrm piece looks at their version and Hacked Off’s reaction … more

The internet is alive with user comments, not all of them moderate or moderated … What policies and procedures do media organsations have in place to manage the flow and the tenor of public participation, while protecting themselves from liability? Sebastian Dixon finds out … more

The government’s mishandling of legislation related to press standards has left media reform in a mess … Richard Ackland reflects on what went wrong and why the threatened loss of the media exemption under the Privacy Act was a joke … more

User agreements and policies of social media sites … How Facebook and Twitter control privacy, censor users and judge community standards in the digital age … Paul Karp investigates … more

Last year’s Leveson Inquiry subjected some media lawyers as well as the press to intense scrutiny … Not all emerged unscathed … In this article, Peter Bartlett looks at the ethical dilemmas faced by the lawyers who advise media clients … more

Open justice by any other name? Richard Ackland reflects on the plethora of court suppression orders that effectively shut off news reporting of a conspiracy to murder case against Michael Ibrahim … John Ibrahim’s name also ordered to be unmentionable … more

Lord Justice Leveson recently appeared at two conferences in Australia, but not to discuss his mammoth two-thousand page report on media practices and ethics … Richard Ackland explains why his Sydney talk on privacy and the internet “was like watching Pavlova walking, instead of dancing” … more

Are the Finkelstein Report’s justifications for statutory media regulation based on reasonable grounds? Sydney media barrister Mark Polden examines the arguments and the reality … more

Twitter has become so ubiquitous that modern journalism now can’t do without it … Sebastian Dixon looks at how the newsroom has taken to Twitter and how the role of the journalist is being transformed by it … more

Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations for media regulation in the UK will be delivered next week … Melbourne media lawyer Peter Bartlett looks at the difficult balancing act he must perform to protect press freedom, while reining in renegade practices … more

Can Lord Justice Leveson’s Inquiry have any effect on the regulation of social media? Freelance journalist, researcher and commentator Judith Townend looks at the challenges of the online sphere … more

Politics and the power of the press … The equal right to vote versus the unequal opportunities to communicate … In this Inforrm article, Oxford University academic Jacob Rowbottom looks at what measures might contain a proprietor whose influence is protected by law … more