The End of Innocence: Open Justice,Free Speech and Privacy in the Modern Constitution – Khuja (formerly PNM) v Times Newspapers Limited

This case note explores the issue of open justice considered by Khuja (formerly PNM) v Times Newspapers Limited in the Supreme Court and argues that the current law is confused and incoherent. Far from settling the debate, it is suggested that the decision further undermines some of the key assumptions underpinning the current approach, especially in the light of the compelling and humane minority judgment. This leaves the area ripe for reconsideration in general terms. This note challenges many of the formulaic slogans and rhetoric in previous case law as well as suggesting that the meaning of open justice has been lost in current discourse. After summarising the facts, this note sets out the majority and minority judgments, before analysing some of the conceptual difficulties raised – particularly those of open justice, privacy, presumption of innocence and freedom of speech.     

Asia Pacific news

This column provides a country-by-country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications’ industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

Asia pacific news

This column provides a country-by-country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications’ industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

构建和谐社区的社会学思考

和谐社区有着自身的特征与意义,它是和谐社会构建的重要基石和检验标准,是政府密切联系群众、城市管理运行有序以及在基层缓解社会矛盾的有效途径。当前存在着社区自治与政府职能、市场经济与社会伦理、居委会角色与社区居民角色、社会开放与社区封闭、贫富差距与社会保障、社区工作非职业化与社区建设的冲突因素。构建和谐社区必须整合社区资源,强化居民认同,拓展社区服务,繁荣社区文化。     

论传媒监督之于公安工作的良性促动

传媒监督有助于树立公安机关的良好形象及获取更多的有价值的信息情报,规范公安工作,督促问题的解决,推进社会法制教育。应做到:正确看待舆论监督;增强应对传媒监督的敏感性和责任感;提升队伍素质,提高执法水平;形成公安机关宣传部门与业务部门齐抓共管的态势。     

网络传播中的大众权力

网络的普及极大地影响到了大众群体在大众传播机制中的角色地位。网络媒介在其运作过程中鼓励大众积极地参与到信息传播的关键环节中来。大众传播一些固有的结构性特征受到了强烈的冲击并已开始形成了某些新的模式特征,这在“逆向的螺旋”、宽聚焦、自由裁量以及积极的信息反馈几个方面表现得尤其突出。     

警察与媒体关系之我见

媒体既是警察与公众沟通的重要中介,又是警察公共关系的客体。如何看待警察与媒体的关系,是警察公共关系能否收到显著效益的前提条件。警察与媒体的关系可以从政治、法律、工作和利益需求的角度进行界定。警察机关应主动加强与媒体的互动合作。     

Framing and dominant metaphors in the coverage of North Korea in the Australian media

Through the selective allocation of attention, framing and metaphors in covering foreign affairs and countries, media narratives often act to delegitimise, marginalise and demonise international actors. Focusing on Australian reportage of North Korea in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012, this paper explicates how the framing mechanisms utilised in media point to media complicity in reinforcing a negative, adversarial orientation towards North Korea. It also discusses implications for how Australians view the North Korean people, Australian–North Korean relations, and policy pertaining to Northeast Asia more broadly.     

Elite Polarization and Public Opinion: How Polarization Is Communicated and Its Effects

Elite polarization has reshaped American politics and is an increasingly salient aspect of news coverage within the United States. As a consequence, a burgeoning body of research attempts to unravel the effects of elite polarization on the mass public. However, we know very little about how polarization is communicated to the public by news media. We report the results of one of the first content analyses to delve into the nature of news coverage of elite polarization. We show that such coverage is predominantly critical of polarization. Moreover, we show that unlike coverage of politics focused on individual politicians, coverage of elite polarization principally frames partisan divisions as rooted in the values of the parties rather than strategic concerns. We build on these novel findings with two survey experiments exploring the influence of these features of polarization news coverage on public attitudes. In our first study, we show that criticism of polarization leads partisans to more positively evaluate the argument offered by their non-preferred party, increases support for bi-partisanship, but ultimately does not change the extent to which partisans follow their party’s policy endorsements. In our second study, we show that Independents report significantly less political interest, trust, and efficacy when polarization is made salient and this is particularly evident when a cause of polarization is mentioned. These studies have important implications for our understanding of the consequences of elite polarization—and how polarization is communicated—for public opinion and political behavior in democratic politics.     

Does public broadcasting increase voter turnout? Evidence from the roll out of BBC radio in the 1920s

There is reason to believe that exposure to public broadcasting can positively affect voter turnout, but these effects are hard to empirically disaggregate. This paper examines the geographically delimited roll out of BBC radio in England, which coincided with successive off-cycle general elections in the 1920s. Combining spatially interpolated census data with constituency-level electoral returns, a matched difference-in-differences design finds that turnout increases with radio exposure. This finding is supported by qualitative examination of the roll out alongside a range of robustness checks. The study makes a contribution to the literature on media and voting behaviour, while enhancing our understanding of how the BBC shapes electoral behaviour in Britain.