Friday, July 25, 2008

Right to privacy 60,000, News of The World 0

A resounding slap in the face to the low, intrusive, vulgar tactics of UK tabloids

And so Max Mosley won it. After taking the News of The World to court for violation of privacy as they filmed his private orgy, the Motorsport boss was proven right and awarded damages. It was a resounding slap in the face to the low, intrusive, vulgar tactics of the Sun and his sister paper.

"There was no public interest or other justification for the clandestine recording", the judge said, "for the publication of the resulting information and still photographs, or for the placing of the video extracts on the News of the World website - all of this on a massive scale". Although the compensation awarded amounts to a (relatively, I could do with some of it myself) meagre £60,000, legal fees amount to around £800,000 and the News of the World will have to fork out.

But what matters most is the precedent that was set. Though we're no admirers of Mosley, the FIA boss had the nerve to do what most people wouldn't: he took on the News of the World and sued them all the way. In the words of Mark Oaten MP (read his article in today's Independent here), whose private life was also devastated by the tabloids' lethal culture of peepholism and lies, this is hardly the end of the red tops stirring shit and setting up scandals. However, editors may want to think twice about what they're doing. Outside court, yesterday, they were wailing about erosions of freedom, "public interest" and "investigative journalism", but spying on other people's sex life has got nowt to do with "public interest" and "investigative journalism".

Unless, I have a better idea. How would those sanctimonious Sun "journalists" like a couple of cameras shoved up their arses recording every single time they're caught having a Barclays or cheating on their wives during the Christmas pissup? Now that's what I call investigative.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just look at how fucked up this all case is.

The News of the World was first alerted to Mr Mosley's sexual habits in a telephone call from her husband, who was an MI5 officer but has since had to resign. He said his wife was a dominatrix based in Milton Keynes and Mr Mosley was a client.

How fucked up is that?