Minister pledges libel rethink

MEDIA NEWS BITE: The government’s Justice Minister this week told those campaigning for a reform of UK defamation laws that he agreed the country’s current libel rules were “not fit for purpose”, adding that he would measure the success of his entire ministerial career based on his efforts to reform libel legislation next year.

Lord McNally was speaking at an event organised by the Libel Reform Campaign. One area of particular concern to campaigners is the affect some recent libel actions have had on science journalism, with some publishers now wary of publishing legitimate scientific criticism of some company’s work for fear of receiving a libel lawsuit.

At the same event research was published that showed between a third and a half of scientific editors at both specialist and mainstream titles had been threatened with legal action, and had toned down legitimate critiques because of libel concerns.

Posted Wednesday December 8 2010 by Chris Cooke