1st Edition

Freedom of the Press

Edited By Eric Barendt Copyright 2009

    Bringing together the most seminal articles written by leading international experts, this volume discusses all aspects of freedom of the press. The papers in the first part of this volume discuss the meaning of press freedom and its relationship to freedom of speech, while those in the second part discuss the extent to which self-regulation is a satisfactory alternative to legal controls. The essays in parts III and IV explore the various solutions adopted in the USA and in some Commonwealth countries to balancing the freedom of the press and other media against the laws of libel and privacy. They discuss, among other issues, the question whether courts should apply the same constitutional principles to privacy actions as those developed in libel law and how far celebrities are entitled to claim privacy rights when they are photographed in public places.

    Contents: Introduction; Part I Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression: Or of the press, Potter Stewart; A preferred position for journalism?, Anthony Lewis; The independent significance of the press clause under existing law, C. Edwin Baker; Freedom of the press: ownership and editorial values, Thomas Gibbons. Part II Self-Regulation of the Press: Press councils: the answer to our 1st Amendment dilemma, John A. Ritter and Matthew Leibowitz; Privacy jurisprudence of the Press Complaints Commission, Louis Blom-Cooper and Lisa R. Pruitt; Self-censorship among journalists: a (moral) wrong or a violation of ECHR law?, Herdís Thorgeirsdóttir. Part III Freedom of the Press and Libel Law: Libel and press self-censorship, David A. Anderson; Freedom of speech and defamation: developments in the common law world, Adrienne Stone and George Williams; Lange and Reynolds qualified privilege: Australian and English defamation law and practice, Andrew T. Kenyon. Part IV Freedom of the Press and Privacy: The right to speak from Times to Time: 1st Amendment theory applied to libel and misapplied to privacy, Melville B. Nimmer; Privacy and the press, Eric Barendt; Privacy and the reasonable paranoid: the protection of privacy in public places, Elizabeth Paton-Simpson; Privacy and speech, Paul Gerwitz; Is Von Hannover v. Germany a step backward for the substantive analysis of speech and privacy interests?, M.A. Sanderson; Name index.

    Biography

    Eric Barendt is a Professor in Faculty of Law at the University College London, UK