The Court of Appeal has said a Daily Mail story speculating that a well-known philandering politician was the father of a baby did not infringe the child’s right to privacy.
But it ruled that the paper was wrong to publish a picture of the child without parental permission and so upheld an earlier damages award of £15,000.
The Appeal Court said in its ruling:
National newspaper have refused to retract claims that one of David Cameron’s “closest allies” described Conservative activists as “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.
The Times and Daily Telegraph both had front-page leads quoting the source anonymously on Saturday and the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror also used the quotes.
The comments are reported to have been made to four journalists in the Blue Boar Smokehouse, Westminster, on Wednesday night.
On Saturday, speculation mounted on social media that the source was Conservative Party co-chair Lord Feldman.
Times foreign editor Richard Beeston has died of cancer aged 50.
Beeston had been with The Times since 1986 and had been foreign editor since 2008.
Writing in The Times today Ben Macintyre said that Richard Beeston “embodied the best of newspaper journalism: passionate but balanced, determined to see for himself, never foolhardy but spectacularly brave.”
Newsquest is set to cut sub-editors in Wales and Gloucestershire as it introduces a single copy editing hub.
As many as eight out of the current roster of 18 sub-editors could be made redundant after the group embarked on a consultation this week. It is expected to continue into July.
The lay-offs come as Newsquest begins the introduction of a new editing system for its Wales and Gloucestershire titles. The system will see individual newspapers’ subbing teams broken up in favour of a single “copy editing unit” based at the South Wales Argus office in Newport.
A former adviser to model Elle Macpherson has discontinued her phone-hacking damages action.
Mary-Ellen Field held News Group Newspapers to blame for being dismissed from her job with Macpherson in November 2005 over 11 alleged instances of leaking information to the press, claiming it could be inferred that messages she left forMacpherson were intercepted.
NGN applied for the action to be struck out on the basis that it was entirely speculative and had no prospect of success
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The Liverpool Echo won four awards at the 2012 Regional Press Awards, garnering particular praise for its successful Hillsborough campaign.
The Trinity Mirror title also won the daily/Sunday newspaper of the year award for newspapers with circulations of more than 25,000.
Meanwhile, the Echo’s digital team also won the website of the year award and journalist Paddy Shennan was named feature writer of the year.
The Sun has removed a story from its website claiming that Chris Huhne had been bullied whilst in prison following a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission.
The complaint from the former energy minister’s partner Carina Trimingham related to an article published on 13 March.
It claimed that Huhne had been “ridiculed” by a prison officer who had called him to breakfast over the prison Tannoy system. It also said that Huhne had been moved to a wing for vulnerable prisoners after being “badgered for money” and that he had been bullied by prisoners and officers.
The BBC has been forced to apologise and pay damages to a Tunisian politician over a story published on its website last November, claiming false links with extremist groups.
The story falsely suggested Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda political party, had condoned terrorist attacks by extremist groups and that he made threats to frustrate the country’s democratic process.
The apology, which ran today on the BBC website, said:
A football business advisor involved in bringing Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez to the Premier League is suing the Daily Mail and columnist Martin Samuel for unlimited libel damages.
Kia Joorabchian took issue with a February article questioning why football club chairmen have continued to employ him despite his alleged role in bringing Tevez and fellow Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano to West Ham United from Brazilian club Corinthians.
