Court reporting rules apply to bloggers, too
Blogger Jackie Danicki caused a stir several weeks ago when she published a cameraphone photograph on her blog of a young man who had allegedly harassed and assaulted her on the London Underground.
Dozens of other bloggers followed up by republishing the picture.
But on Friday, a man was arrested in connection with the incident. That means that proceedings are now active and it’s time for all the bloggers following the story to brush up on their British media law if they don’t want to risk prejudicing a potential future trial or even being held in contempt of court.
Writing on the blog of his University of Sunderland colleague Phillip Young, McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists co-editor David Banks reminds bloggers of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
In fact, Danicki herself might want to reconsider the phrasing of her post about the arrest.
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