Steven Price

Guide to NZ Media Law

Official Information Act

Official Information Act


Bill of Rights Act

Media law resources

Feeds (RSS)

Contempt of Court

Next Entries »

DomPost editor says a bunch of interesting stuff

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

DomPost editor Tim Pankhurst gave a very interesting keynote address at the Jeanz conference called “The Power of Print”. Here are some highlights: The relevance of print  The DomPost’s coverage of Louise Nicholas, Donna Awatere Huata, the Capital and Coast Health issues and the “Terrorism files” shows that print has “undiminished power” – in the […]

Free speech audit in Australia

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Former NSW Ombudsman Irene Moss has conducted an audit into the state of free speech in Australia and concluded that “free speech and media freedom are being whittled away by gradual and sometimes almost imperceptible degrees.” I confess I’m always a bit suspicious of death-by-a-thousand-cuts claims, since they often overlook or underestimate the ways in which free […]

NZ Herald archives really in contempt?

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

The Solicitor-General has told the NZ Herald to take some stories off its archives, because they are in contempt of court. The stories contain (presumably prejudicial) information about murder accused Liam James Reid/Julian Edgecombe. I don’t know what this material is. It may, for example, contain information about previous convictions. If the judge specifically suppressed this […]

S-G contacts Fairfax about contempt

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

The Solicitor-General is reportedly asking Fairfax newspapers to explain their actions (publishing the “terrorism files” information), saying they may be in contempt. The story doesn’t say whether he’s suggesting they breached the Crimes Act, too, by publishing information obtained by interception warrants. A “please-explain” letter strikes me as a bit odd in the circumstances. What […]

Comments on Rogers case

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

The missing angle in the media Did anyone in the media report that virtually all the Supreme Court judges seem to believe that, as Blanchard J puts it, “the police would appear to have acted beyond their powers” in releasing the videotaped confession to the media, because they are required to treat evidence as secret […]

Next Entries »