Jul 2023
8:25am, 12 Jul 2023
47,232 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Example a quick google for "Johnson clown site:fetcheveryone.com" Politics - Page 7053 (I'm more interested in libel laws and impacts on FE, than I am in who the celebrity is who is accused of misconduct. Not saying I'm not concerned about abuse of power, sexual predatory behaviour etc. But not the gossip about who, particularly.)  G
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Jul 2023
9:40am, 12 Jul 2023
21,505 posts
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larkim
Intrigued by the fact that the allegations now being made against the BBC employee which the press *appear* to have at least viable sources for are continuing to remain anonymous. Normally rags like the sun would name individuals if they had a good source, especially if the activities involved appeared to be non-criminal in nature. Is this the "right to privacy" having a positive impact on regulating what the press do, and the sun desperately trying to find a way to push against this by not breaking those privacy rules a) to see papers and b) in the hope that the anonymous nature of the individual involved breaks down through sheer weight of pressure? Whatever the actual incidents or events at the heart of the story, there's an intriguing position here about the way the press operates in the UK and the strength of legal protections that those in the public eye can (and should) benefit from. |
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Jul 2023
9:57am, 12 Jul 2023
47,238 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
I'm a fan of freedom of the press etc. but not a fan of public shaming bypassing the legal or disciplinary processes. Aka guilt by gossip. If privacy laws are preventing the worst of the gutter press titillation then that is a good thing, in my view. It also doesn't feel like the top news story to me though and I get very annoyed with it being a higher headline than Ukraine war, cost of living crisis and widespread poverty and deprivation, refugee crisis, climate emergency etc. |
Jul 2023
11:35am, 12 Jul 2023
15,105 posts
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jda
I would think if non-criminal there’s a much weaker argument for public interest. (Tho obvs also less of an issue of prejudicing a trial.) |
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Jul 2023
11:47am, 12 Jul 2023
21,506 posts
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larkim
Oh, it's far from the most important thing happening. But what "news" is is always in the context of what is interesting to people, rightly or wrongly. There *is* a story of value given the history of coercive abusers in the past within the BBC (as well as other high profile routes such as popstardom, etc etc) and media vigilance to air such stories if there is credibility to it is not unimportant. Pales into insignificance really vs the other issues, but Ukraine will still be in the headlines 6 months from now, and was 6, 12, 18 months previously so there is continual attention on them (and likely a lot more work currently ongoing in the machinery of government, vs dealing with the BBC's/Sun issue of this week). I'm not buying into the "this is just the media dissembling to avoid drawing attention to Johnson" etc lines though that I've seen referenced elsewhere. The reality is that there is only so much space for "news" on a given day, and some days a story will have energy that overwhelms other important matters of the day. Can I fault the tabloids in particular for absorbing themselves with this particular story? Not really, its what shifts papers. Throughout the rest of the media, maybe we can be critical of "broadsheets" if they persist with the story too far and to the exclusion of other issues, but at the moment if the BBC dropped the story for editorial reasons of wanting to prioritise more important issues I suspect they'd get slammed for bias! |
Jul 2023
12:24pm, 12 Jul 2023
2,968 posts
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paulcook
I would think if non-criminal there’s a much weaker argument for public interest. (Tho obvs also less of an issue of prejudicing a trial.) Right now there's a hell of a lot I don't like about this story especially when so far it's non-criminal and on the cusp of private life / immoral, public interest. And yet Jeremy Vine is urging him to name himself. And it also depends massively on whether these "young people" are male/female too. But as much as The Sun can forge its own news agenda, I'm at a loss why so many other organisations are following said news agenda when there's so much more important news right now. The BBC News last night apparently covered more than half the show to it, for example. Sorry, but that's just wrong. |
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Jul 2023
12:25pm, 12 Jul 2023
47,245 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
And it also depends massively on whether these "young people" are male/female too. Err, why? |
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Jul 2023
12:28pm, 12 Jul 2023
21,507 posts
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larkim
I've got sympathy with Vine's perspective on it. He was on the receiving end of people claiming the individual at the centre was him, and whilst the activities might be utterly legal, I can still see why someone wouldn't want to be associated with those activities. For people like him (and it is a selfish perspective from his part, accepted) until the individual is named or appears on BBC whilst the suspension is still reported to be in place, he may continue to suffer unfounded reputational damage.
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Jul 2023
12:32pm, 12 Jul 2023
2,969 posts
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paulcook
And it also depends massively on whether these "young people" are male/female too. Err, why? Are we not potentially outing somebody in the media when that's their own choice to do so? |
Jul 2023
12:34pm, 12 Jul 2023
20,597 posts
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rf_fozzy
I suspect Vine's tirade on C5 might land him in hot water. As I think it's more or less "outed" them. And it's pure selfishness on his part. The unnamed presenter certainly has a HR claim against him because he started talking about them from hearsay. Awful behaviour. I never understand why people want to engage in gossip, but with the radio on, I've been subjected to 2hours of it this morning. |
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