Tyrlop
18th December 2009, 21:33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50PUNdaXjeg
A book blog by Richard Wilson
Calling all bloggers – Help beat the gag on the BBC
with 18 comments (http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/calling-all-bloggers-help-beat-the-gag-on-the-bbc/#comments)
You can help beat Trafigura’s gag on the BBC by embedding this Youtube video on your website…
…and linking to this pdf! (http://richardwilsonauthor.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/censored-newsnight-story-pdf.pdf)
Here’s why…
Late last week the BBC chose to delete from its website a damning Newsnight investigation into the Trafigura scandal (http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/uks-dysfunctional-libel-system-strikes-again-newsnight-feature-on-trafigura-disappears-from-bbc-website/), following legal threats from the company and its controversial lawyers, Carter-Ruck.
Previously, other media outlets including the Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6822320.ece) and the Independent (http://tory-politico.com/2009/10/independents-story-about-trafigura-goes-offline/), had withdrawn stories about the case, amid concerns that the UK press is choosing to engage in self-censorship, rather than risk a confrontation with such a powerful company in the UK’s archaic and one-sided libel courts.
The BBC is a dominant player within the UK media, and its independence – supposedly guaranteed by the millions it receives from licence-payers each year – is vital both to its public service function and its global reputation.
Freedom of speech means very little without an effective and independent media – if it’s true that the BBC’s independence can so easily be compromised by legal threats, then this sets a very dangerous precedent for the future.
The mainstream UK media has so far assiduously avoided reporting on the BBC’s climbdown. Yet it’s an issue that raises serious questions about the state of press freedom in Britain, at a time of unprecedented attacks on the media (http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2009/12/a-year-of-gagging/).
To help subvert this latest attempt to muzzle the press, please embed this video on your blog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocwLgilzmV8&feature=player_embedded), and link to this PDF of the original story (http://richardwilsonauthor.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/censored-newsnight-story-pdf.pdf).
original blog: http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/calling-all-bloggers-help-beat-the-gag-on-the-b (http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/calling-all-bloggers-help-beat-the-gag-on-the-bbc/)bc/
A book blog by Richard Wilson
Calling all bloggers – Help beat the gag on the BBC
with 18 comments (http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/calling-all-bloggers-help-beat-the-gag-on-the-bbc/#comments)
You can help beat Trafigura’s gag on the BBC by embedding this Youtube video on your website…
…and linking to this pdf! (http://richardwilsonauthor.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/censored-newsnight-story-pdf.pdf)
Here’s why…
Late last week the BBC chose to delete from its website a damning Newsnight investigation into the Trafigura scandal (http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/uks-dysfunctional-libel-system-strikes-again-newsnight-feature-on-trafigura-disappears-from-bbc-website/), following legal threats from the company and its controversial lawyers, Carter-Ruck.
Previously, other media outlets including the Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6822320.ece) and the Independent (http://tory-politico.com/2009/10/independents-story-about-trafigura-goes-offline/), had withdrawn stories about the case, amid concerns that the UK press is choosing to engage in self-censorship, rather than risk a confrontation with such a powerful company in the UK’s archaic and one-sided libel courts.
The BBC is a dominant player within the UK media, and its independence – supposedly guaranteed by the millions it receives from licence-payers each year – is vital both to its public service function and its global reputation.
Freedom of speech means very little without an effective and independent media – if it’s true that the BBC’s independence can so easily be compromised by legal threats, then this sets a very dangerous precedent for the future.
The mainstream UK media has so far assiduously avoided reporting on the BBC’s climbdown. Yet it’s an issue that raises serious questions about the state of press freedom in Britain, at a time of unprecedented attacks on the media (http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2009/12/a-year-of-gagging/).
To help subvert this latest attempt to muzzle the press, please embed this video on your blog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocwLgilzmV8&feature=player_embedded), and link to this PDF of the original story (http://richardwilsonauthor.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/censored-newsnight-story-pdf.pdf).
original blog: http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/calling-all-bloggers-help-beat-the-gag-on-the-b (http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/calling-all-bloggers-help-beat-the-gag-on-the-bbc/)bc/