Labour MP Shahid Malik has issued a libel suit against a small locally owned newspaper and a former Tory Councillor in Dewsbury regarding complaints made about the conduct of Labour supporters during the local elections in May 2006.
Is Freedom of the Press out of place in New Labour Britain.
"forumATdewsburypress.co.uk" or
3W's plus "thepressnewspaper.co.uk" if you say NO.
2006-10-28 10:55:09 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The simple answer is YES!
Our tabloid media, has spread from the red-tops to the quality papers, on to TV journalism, into radio and the up-surge of tabloid style magazines, means that we do not have quality reporting of news events in this country.
It's time the government slapped a restraining order and quailty standards on the media, who cares which celeb is shagging another celeb.
What we need is quality reporting, with proper evidence not some slack tongued gossip mongerer being the key witness.
2006-11-01 02:10:13 · answer #1 · answered by thebigtombs 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The press have NEVER reported "the whole truth". There are lots of bad journalists. There are lots of extremely egotistical, arrogant and stupid journalists. There are lots of journalists with an extremely overinflated sense of their own worth and importance. There are lots of overpaid, overambitious and over-egoed editors. There are too many press barons with their own agendas.
But having said all this, it would be a disaster for this country if the undoubted licences that the press take with news were curtailed. This Government has been unprecedented in the degree to which it has attempted to (an succeeded in) manipulating the press. The opposition has been supine. Parliament has been compliant. The poor old House of Lords has been bullied into submission (and now faces even more tinkering). The Government has carried on on its merry way. It takes roughly 25,000 people to elect a Labour MP, 50,000 to elect a Tory MP and 100,000 to elect a Lib-Dem. The Tories actually achieved more votes than Labour in England last time round, yet ended with 90-something (I think) fewer seats. This is hardly democracy. Labour is intending to introduce more list-systems (like the ones in the European elections that no-one votes in - it doesn't matter since the parties chose, centrally, who they want on the lists and the electorate essentially decide whether the 4th or 5th person on each list doesn't make it). They rig council elections (or, at least, allow them to be straightforwardly rigged). They even rigged the vote for Welsh devolution (25% said yes, 25% said no and 50% didn't vote).
The press is our last bastion against this profoundly undemocratic Government.
HANDS OFF!
2006-10-28 11:22:18 · answer #2 · answered by Perspykashus 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How our politicians would love to silence the press. How inconvenient to them it is to have their lies and chicanery exposed. Of course the press is far from perfect but they are not elected to do a job to the best of their ability and with integrity as politicians supposedly are. Anyone interested enough to have looked at M.P.'s recent expense claims?. Andrew Dismore Labour MP for Hendon claimed £154,539 in allowances and says,"I am a very hard working M.P". Of his allowances £37,000 was for postage which works out about an average of 230 letters a day. By contrast Lee Scott Conservative M.P. for Ilford North spent £600 on postage. M.P.'s have consistently refused to break down their allowances so that they can be more closley examined. Now we all know where the 'gravy train' leaves from.
2006-10-29 00:26:59 · answer #3 · answered by Rob Roy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no there should always be a free press yet 90% of the press is owned by the globalists and the incidents current events questions that need answering by our governments are not being done ,but for what free press we do have america is a total black out to the people its totally wrong they know what part the press plays and they use it against the people they release info like the fact seven of the so called 9/11 hijackers were found alive in the east yet this is covered once then buried and every time i mention it to someone there like what were they really .one of the mens passports was found on the street below wtc(plant) everything turned into flames they cant find the black boxs yet they find a passport of a hijacker that isnt in the country and is alive ,i mean wake up people question this stuff.
2006-10-28 12:43:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe that the press should be free to report the truth.
The trouble is that the press these days do not, or at least not the whole truth, just the spin they want to sensationalise the subject.
They are also bad about creating the news rather than reporting it and they really should give all people a bit of privacy. Public Interest does not mean salacious details to sell copy.
2006-10-28 11:09:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
freedom of the press is fair enough but some of the blatant lies that are printed by newspapers should be stopped and if it means taking out libel suits against them well thats fair enough, freedom of the press is not a licence to print lies no matter what party you support
2006-10-28 11:14:27 · answer #6 · answered by JOHN jen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not believe in censorship, there are things you may not want your kids to see or hear, but basically everyone should have the right to say what they want. If you don't like what a newspaper says then don't buy it. Britain is supposed to be a free country in every meaning of the word. i know its stretching it a bit but we must fight for our right to free speech.
2006-10-28 11:08:04 · answer #7 · answered by Robert B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Labour or any party can't shut the press, thatcher already tried. The only people that can are the public by not buying them.
2006-10-28 11:10:25 · answer #8 · answered by Ley 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, we have freedom of speech(supposedly) why do people take such offence and result to legal action seems a bit silly to me cos in the end it will end in no one being able to say anything so where's the "Democracy" in that?
2006-10-28 11:09:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well mate i wish i know more about New Labour but i don't really focus on labour anymore
2006-10-28 11:16:52 · answer #10 · answered by Lord Glyde 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋