This is a talk given by Angela Phillips at an event called 'After Leveson: is citizen journalism the answer?' The event was held by Citizen Journalism Educational Trust on Saturday 8 June. Angela is our Ethics Chair and the editor-in-chief of Goldsmiths-based London news website EastLondonLines. Can we start by getting rid of the title: Citizen Journalism? Journalists are … [Read more...]
Proposal to neuter Defamation Bill would wreck the Leveson balance
Since January we've been fighting against the desire of the press to get libel reform without independent regulation. But regulation without libel reform would be equally dangerous - and that's what some in the ruling party are now proposing. … [Read more...]
This semi-statutory compromise is a good first step
By Angela Phillips Today’s deal on the Leveson reforms should provide a regulator strong enough to protect the press from its own worst instincts. … [Read more...]
Job done, Lord Puttnam: the “terrible silence” is broken
By Mike Jempson In tabling his contentious amendments to the Defamation Bill, Lord Puttnam made clear that they were “designed to break that terrible silence” which had come over formal discussions of Lord Justice Leveson’s proposals for a new regulatory regime to improve ‘the culture, ethics and practice of the press’. He was certainly not the only one who feared that … [Read more...]
Finally, editors are breaking ranks on press reform
By Angela Phillips As cross party talks on press reform enter a critical phase, the editors are, at last, breaking ranks. Editors of the Financial Times, The Guardian and the Independent have finally understood that they do not have to stand shoulder to shoulder with press barons whose only real interest in press freedom is as a fig-leaf with which to cover unethical … [Read more...]
Press gobbles up the carrots but runs away from the sticks
Press gobbles up the carrots but runs away from the sticks The Defamation Bill is in danger of being lost. The person responsible for this is David Cameron. The Bill, which has been under consideration for three years now, is a vital reform which would remove many of the legal constraints on press freedom that are currently suffered by genuine investigative journalists. … [Read more...]