Category / Law and ethics

CommentaryHow much information about Robert Pickton’s murder trial is too much information? Tony Burman, editor in chief of CBC News, comments on the public backlash against media coverage of graphic evidence being…

NewsIn many countries, it is a crime to insult public officials or any individual, group or religion. The World Press Freedom Committee has launched a campaign to eliminate this extreme form of…

NewsThe judge presiding over Robert Pickton’s murder trial has instituted a “sensible and practical protocol” to allow journalists to apply for access to exhibits. See the Vancouver Sun report.

NewsIn a move hailed as a step toward greater press freedom, Mexican President Felipe Calder??n has approved amendments to decriminalize libel, slander and defamation. Mexico joins El Salvador as the only two…

NewsVideo blogger Josh Wolf was freed on April 3, 2007after spending more time behind bars for contempt than any other American journalist in recent history. The 24-year-old, whorefused to comply with a…

NewsBritain’s House of Lords has refused to review a landmark ruling that has been criticized for protecting privacy at the expense of free expression — and could restrict how journalists cover celebrities…

AnalysisRoger McConchie, a Vancouver lawyer who specializes in libel and privacy issues, has compiled detailed summaries of Canadian court rulings on Internet libel.

Book ReviewJoseph Howe, the courageous editor of the Novascotian, has long been the poster-boy for freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Canada. His exposes of government corruption in Halifax…

AnalysisAvoiding a defamation suit can be a tricky business. But a series of rulings, including an influential precedent from Britain’s House of Lords, promises to give the Canadian media more leeway to…

NewsThe Toronto Star is appealing a northern Ontario jury’s $1.475 million libel award –one of the highest in Canadian history – over an article describing a wealthy local businessman’s plans to expand…