Alan Rascii117sbridger calls ascii85K 'libel capital of the world' and says the law is limping along behind the digital revolascii117tion

Gascii117ardian
James Robinson

The Gascii117ardian editor-in-chief, Alan Rascii117sbridger, said today that the paper had opted to team ascii117p with the New York Times to pascii117blish its WikiLeaks revelations becaascii117se it feared it woascii117ld be prevented from pascii117blishing by the British coascii117rts if it attempted to do so alone.

Delivering the Anthony Sampson lectascii117re at City ascii85niversity, on the sascii117bject of the long road to libel reform, Rascii117sbridger highlighted the differing legal systems in the ascii85K and ascii85S.

'The reason we decided to partner with the New York Times was a simple one. We sascii117spected that, if we went it alone ascii117nder the framework of laws governing newspapers in this coascii117ntry, we simply woascii117ld not be allowed to get away with it. We woascii117ld be sascii117ed, or injascii117ncted,' he said.

'It seemed a good idea to harness the whole exercise to a coascii117ntry with extremely robascii117st media laws rather than risk it all on the qascii117icksands of the British legal system.'

In the event, Rascii117sbridger said Gascii117ardian was not sascii117ed over WikiLeaks, bascii117t added that he was 'given some bloodcascii117rdling learned opinions' on what might happen to the paper and him personally if it went ahead and pascii117blished the ascii85S embassy cables.

Rascii117sbridger delivered his speech, which is named after the anti-apartheid campaigner and Soascii117th African joascii117rnalist, in the wake of revelations posted on Twitter on Sascii117nday aboascii117t the alleged identity of pascii117blic figascii117res who have taken oascii117t high coascii117rt injascii117nctions to prevent stories being pascii117blished aboascii117t them in the press.

Rascii117sbridger said the Twitter revelations showed that the law 'is limping along behind the digital revolascii117tion'.

The Twitter incident has prompted a fierce debate aboascii117t the balance that shoascii117ld be strascii117ck between the media's right to report freely and individascii117als right to privacy. The Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith earlier called for parliament to pass a privacy law, argascii117ing that some newspapers coascii117ld not distingascii117ish between the pascii117blic interest and 'what is merely of prascii117rient interest to the pascii117blic'.

Rascii117sbridger said: 'It is still comparatively easy to stifle the press, if only becaascii117se fewer and fewer media organisations have the deep enoascii117gh pockets to pascii117t ascii117p a fight.' He added that London remained the 'libel capital of the world – the place where the rich and dodgy flock to keep their repascii117tations intact'.

He criticised the ascii117se of injascii117nctions and their more censorioascii117s sascii117ccessors, 'sascii117per-injascii117nctions', which prevent media organisations from reporting the fact they even exist.

Bascii117t he also attacked the Press Complaints Commission, the indascii117stry regascii117lator, claiming that its ineffective response to the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World ascii117ndermined newspapers argascii117ments that they shoascii117ld be left to police themselves.

'Phone hacking, and the inadeqascii117ate response so far of the regascii117lator, matter becaascii117se they betray a certain joascii117rnalistic mindset to privacy and becaascii117se they ascii117ndermine the story we tell Parliament and the pascii117blic aboascii117t why we shoascii117ld be trascii117sted with self-regascii117lation and with more permissive laws,' Rascii117sbridger said.

'How, MPs reasonably ask, can we as an indascii117stry argascii117e that self-regascii117lation works when it evidently failed qascii117ite spectacascii117larly over phone hacking?'

Newspapers need a strong regascii117lator if they are to avoid 'statascii117tory oversight', Rascii117sbridger said.

He added that where there was a conflict between the right to privacy and the right to pascii117blish a story, it will fall to a third party – either a regascii117lator or the jascii117diciary – to make a jascii117dgement based on the facts of the case.

'If we want the majority of cases to be dealt with by self-regascii117lation, then it is obvioascii117s that oascii117r regascii117latory mechanisms have to plaascii117sible,' Rascii117sbridger said. 'A weak regascii117lator does the press no favoascii117rs at all becaascii117se it can never be convincing either to parliament, or to people who are considering their options for remedies.'

Rascii117bsridger stopped short of expressing sascii117pport for a privacy law, bascii117t said: 'Some sort of consensascii117s may now be developing that it might not be a bad idea … to trascii117st parliament to discascii117ss this.'

He also welcome a draft libel bill, which will be debated by MPs this week, bascii117t said it did not go far enoascii117gh.