Gag order fuels privacy debate
Source: Agencies |
April 27, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A BBC television journalist has disclosed that he won a court order in 2008 to prevent British newspapers from reporting details of an extra-marital affair, fuelling a debate on individual privacy versus press freedom.
Andrew Marr, who interviews senior politicians on his Sunday morning TV show, said he felt uncomfortable about obtaining a "super injunction" which critics say the rich and the famous are using to silence the press.
"I did not come into journalism to go around gagging journalists," the former BBC political editor told the Daily Mail newspaper yesterday.
"Am I embarrassed by it? Am I uneasy about it? Yes. But at the time there was a crisis in my marriage," added Marr, a former editor of the Independent newspaper.
Marr went public rather than fight a fresh attempt by satirical magazine Private Eye to get the 2008 ruling lifted. The "super injunction" is so named because not only are newspapers not allowed to publish the news, they are further blocked from saying who won the order.
Tabloid tactics are in the spotlight after the News of the World apologized to eight people, including actress Sienna Miller, for intercepting their voicemail messages in search of stories.
Newspapers argue the use of gagging orders risks harming genuine investigative journalism. "These super-injunctions don't just involve the tabloids," David Leigh, an executive editor at the Guardian newspaper, said. "They have spread like a disease or a virus and they cause serious problems for serious papers."
Andrew Marr, who interviews senior politicians on his Sunday morning TV show, said he felt uncomfortable about obtaining a "super injunction" which critics say the rich and the famous are using to silence the press.
"I did not come into journalism to go around gagging journalists," the former BBC political editor told the Daily Mail newspaper yesterday.
"Am I embarrassed by it? Am I uneasy about it? Yes. But at the time there was a crisis in my marriage," added Marr, a former editor of the Independent newspaper.
Marr went public rather than fight a fresh attempt by satirical magazine Private Eye to get the 2008 ruling lifted. The "super injunction" is so named because not only are newspapers not allowed to publish the news, they are further blocked from saying who won the order.
Tabloid tactics are in the spotlight after the News of the World apologized to eight people, including actress Sienna Miller, for intercepting their voicemail messages in search of stories.
Newspapers argue the use of gagging orders risks harming genuine investigative journalism. "These super-injunctions don't just involve the tabloids," David Leigh, an executive editor at the Guardian newspaper, said. "They have spread like a disease or a virus and they cause serious problems for serious papers."
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