Stephen Glover, in today's Grumbler:
The English libel laws used to be much loved by the rich and famous, and to a large degree London remains the libel capital of the world to which freebooters of all nationalities, including our own, flock in order to pick up some usually undeserved loot.
Now these and other folk have fastened on to Article Eight of the Human Rights Act. Of course, their and everyone else's privacy must be respected, but so must the right of a free Press to write about the private misbehaviour - more often financial rather than sexual - of the rich and powerful.
Does Mr Glover think this should apply to celeb journalists, also? It seems to me that some members of the Fourth Estate are rich and powerful, when compared to the rest of us.
2 comments:
Are you advocating a sort of "Who is Polly shagging currently?" publication? Shame on you.
Oooh, I hadn't thought of that! Though I'm sure it's common knowledge at Private Eye and most of what used to be Fleet Street.
But there is a grand TV journopundit who has gone to court recently to suppress well-known information about his private life, although previously he has opined that the courts shouldn't be making the law in this area. And he did rather overreach when he also tried to have the injunction itself made secret.
In this age, the liveried manservant has started to think of himself as one of His Lordship's family, and little wonder, when you see how well-rewarded is the top level of journalism. Do you not think that, like the bards of old, their power to affect reputation is used as a form of blackmail? That's why the King would give the minstrels gold.
Post a Comment