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Lawmaker compares tabloids' ethics to Auschwitz
Source: Agencies |
December 6, 2011, Tuesday
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Online Edition
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A British lawmaker has compared the business ethics of some of Britain's tabloids to a notorious Nazi concentration camp at a Parliamentary hearing on newspaper excesses.
The shocking comparison was made yesterday by Conservative Party lawmaker Zac Goldsmith, who testified along with "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star Hugh Grant, comedian Steve Coogan and ex-Formula One racing chief Max Mosley.
When asked if judges ruling in libel or privacy cases should consider whether their decisions might lead to the financial collapse of newspapers found to be at fault, Goldsmith said that "immoral or unethical" businesses should either change or go out of business.
"No one said that Auschwitz should have been kept open because it created jobs," said Goldsmith, referring to the Nazi death camp in Poland.
As part of an inquiry into phone hacking by Britain's tabloids, the Parliamentary committee is gathering evidence about the value of privacy laws and the use of legal gag orders that have been accused of stifling the media.
Media outlets have expressed alarm at the increasing use of injunctions and so-called "super-injunctions" - court orders which not only ban reporting of details of a specific case, but often forbid any public mention that an injunction exists.
Goldsmith's private life became the subject of tabloid scrutiny during the break up of his marriage in 2010. He told the panel he had previously secured a court injunction to prevent reporting of the fact his email account, and those of his then wife and his sister, had been hacked. The legislator has previously discussed how he took the legal action amid fears newspapers would disclose contents of the emails.
Britain's phone hacking scandal, which has exposed how the private voice mail messages of bereaved parents and celebrity figures were illegally accessed, has led to a raft of inquiries into the country's written press.
The shocking comparison was made yesterday by Conservative Party lawmaker Zac Goldsmith, who testified along with "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star Hugh Grant, comedian Steve Coogan and ex-Formula One racing chief Max Mosley.
When asked if judges ruling in libel or privacy cases should consider whether their decisions might lead to the financial collapse of newspapers found to be at fault, Goldsmith said that "immoral or unethical" businesses should either change or go out of business.
"No one said that Auschwitz should have been kept open because it created jobs," said Goldsmith, referring to the Nazi death camp in Poland.
As part of an inquiry into phone hacking by Britain's tabloids, the Parliamentary committee is gathering evidence about the value of privacy laws and the use of legal gag orders that have been accused of stifling the media.
Media outlets have expressed alarm at the increasing use of injunctions and so-called "super-injunctions" - court orders which not only ban reporting of details of a specific case, but often forbid any public mention that an injunction exists.
Goldsmith's private life became the subject of tabloid scrutiny during the break up of his marriage in 2010. He told the panel he had previously secured a court injunction to prevent reporting of the fact his email account, and those of his then wife and his sister, had been hacked. The legislator has previously discussed how he took the legal action amid fears newspapers would disclose contents of the emails.
Britain's phone hacking scandal, which has exposed how the private voice mail messages of bereaved parents and celebrity figures were illegally accessed, has led to a raft of inquiries into the country's written press.
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