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| SEVERE:
Mr Hill talked about British media laws at the House of
Commons |
THE media is “shackled” to such an
extent that the UK does not really have a free press, the editor of the
Daily Express said yesterday.
Peter Hill told a
committee of MPs examining standards in journalism that they should be
looking for ways of removing constraints on the media, not imposing new
ones.
Mr Hill also
apologised again for printing inaccurate stories suggesting Kate and
Gerry McCann were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine,
but said they had come from what he believed were credible sources in
the Portuguese police.
The idea that
newspapers could print whatever they liked about people with impunity
was mistaken, he said.
“We have got the
laws of libel which are the most severe in the world,” he told the House
of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport.
“We have got the law
of confidence, which is now being used extensively by celebrities; we
have got the law of privacy which is coming in; we have got European
law; we are pretty much up to our ears in laws.”
Legal firms who went
round offering so-called “no win no fee” deals – technically known as
conditional fee arrangements (CFA) – on libel actions had created a
“ridiculous” situation and people came from all over the world to sue in
British courts.
The constitutional
right to freedom of expression in the US ensured a genuinely free press
across the Atlantic, he said.
“We do not have a
free press in this country by any means – we have a very, very shackled
press,” he said.
“You should be
looking at means of removing those shackles, not imposing more.” A
genuinely free press is essential to the proper functioning of a
democratic society, he said.
In March last year
the McCanns accepted a £550,000 payout from Express Newspapers over
false allegations that they were responsible for the death of their
daughter, who disappeared while the family was on holiday in Portugal in
May 2007.
Mr Hill said he did
not consider resigning over the matter, saying there would be no editors
left if every one who faced a libel action resigned.
“I accept that we
did libel Mr and Mrs McCann because under the law we clearly did not
tell the truth about them,” he said.
“Very few people
apologise for anything these days, but I have apologised for it and I
sincerely apologised and I apologise now.”
Mr Hill stressed
that the stories were published in good faith as he believed them to
have come from a credible source.
“I was not making
these allegations. I repeated the allegations but I was not making
them,” he said.
“The allegations
were made by the Portuguese police, who appeared to be very confident of
the rightness of what they were saying, but of course it turned out to
be nonsense.
“This was a
reputable police force of a reputable country, a reputable, civilised
country.”
The media covering
the McCann case had a genuine wish to find out what had happened to her,
he said, and were not solely motivated by the desire to sell copies.
Last week the
committee heard from Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, who also voiced
serious concerns about the effect CFAs were having on journalism, and
the “insidious” imposition of a privacy law in High Court rulings.
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THE WORST PARANOIA
29.04.09, 9:56am
This corrupt nulabor government is paranoid about having total control over the flow of information and opinions. It is not only the no-longer free press that is gagged, but attempts are made to gag the release of any uncomfortable information or critical opinion. Central to nulabor maintaining power is only allowing its own illusory material to enter the collective consciousness. Those who would speak the truth are ruthlessly suppressed. Unfortunately, in some cases, the press have done their readers a disservice in holding back on the truth and supported the nulabor charade.
• Posted by: harbinger • Report Comment
EXPRESS CENSORSHIP - OH THE IRONY!
29.04.09, 9:11am
Er.... is the name M c C a n n a dirty word? Why is it filtered in the Express auto-censor?
• Posted by: Jilly_CL • Report Comment
EXPRESS EDITOR: BRITISH MEDIA 'SHACKLED' BY LAWS
29.04.09, 9:08am
It sounded like Peter Hill was on his knees in front of the Select Committee, apologising profusely to the **** - adding to his grovelling front page apologies and the big fat cheque made out to the **** Limited Co last year (how many of their mortgage payments did that nice little earner amount to, I wonder?!)
Since Mr Hill stated to the committee yesterday that "NO-ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO **** ****", I suggest he would have been wiser to hold off another spate of McSycophancy until he knows whether or not the first round was ever justified!
By the same token, he would be even wiser witholding his despicable unfounded accusations against the Policia Judiciaria and the Portuguese Press until the UK press is allowed to publish the truth about what happened to **** ****!
• Posted by: Jilly_CL • Report Comment