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When errors hit the information superhighway
146/Mike Jempson
12/7/05: Sinisa Nadazdin, the charity worker from Montenegro who recently won £40,000 in damages and an apology from the Sunday Mirror for being falsely accused of child trafficking, now faces a new dilemma.
Hundred of references to the original story are scattered all over the Internet, in chat rooms and on websites as varied as White Pride World Wide and the Marijuana and Hemp Network. Neo-fascist groups are using it to attack Roma, and neo-con’s to attack the UN - since infowars.com and on global-conspiracies.com ran the story under the misleading headline ‘Children Sold Into Slavery by UN Charity’. One French/Nepalese children’s rights groups has even referred the incorrect story to Interpol.
His was one of many similar cases discussed during a session on ‘The rules of the game: On-line journalism and archives’ at the Organisation of News Ombudsmen conference hosted by The Guardian in May.
Tagging online versions of articles that turn out to be incorrect or libellous may protect publications from legal action, explained media lawyers Siobhain Butterworth and Mark Stephens. They said that canny plaintiffs were seeking out the best jurisdiction in which to sue now that the internet guarantees global distribution.
Even displaying a hyperlink that takes visitors to a dubious article could land publishers in court they warned. Ironically judgements over such hi-tech issues may rely upon case law dating back to 1813 (Smith v Wood) and 1894 (Hird v Wood)!
Sinisa and his lawyers now have the daunting task of tracking down website owners and persuading them to remove the false allegations. Continued dissemination could count against him if the Montenegrin authorities pursue the defamation action that still hangs over him and four others for bringing the state into disrepute.
Meanwhile the children whose images appeared in the original story have since been moved to worse accommodation in Podgorica, and may have to go into care while their mother receives medical treatment. As with the Internet, the consequences of this story have ramifications that few could have predicted.
Last modified: Monday, August 15, 2005
Previous journalism ethics stories
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The Blame Game
Shock jailing of reporter in CIA-leak case
Faking It
The Guardian and the Lexus
Launch of The RAM Report
Aliens in the Media
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Sunday Mirror pays out over slur
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Regulating journalists... Whatever next?
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World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
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MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Journalism Ethics
BBC puts its house in order (complaints-wise)
The Blame Game
Shock jailing of reporter in CIA-leak case
Faking It
The Guardian and the Lexus
Launch of The RAM Report
Aliens in the Media
Lies, Spies & Whistleblowers
Sunday Mirror pays out over slur
Check Calls
CBS Purge
Journalism & Public Trust
Regulating journalists... Whatever next?
