Professor Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster, spoke to LBC News and BBC Radio 5 Live in response to the judgement which awarded Prince Harry all his legal costs following his court victory against the Mirror Group.
In both interviews Professor Barnett explained that Prince Harry was awarded costs because the judge found conclusively that Reach, the publisher of the Mirror titles, had failed to defend the case brought by Harry and his fellow complainants. He also found that the Mirror papers’ unlawful information gathering was widespread and extensive.
Professor Barnett went on to explain that further cases now were due to come to court against News UK, publishers of The Sun, and Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Mail titles.
Speaking on LBC News he said: “He has upcoming claims both against the Murdoch Press (in respect of The Sun) and Mail newspapers […] So as far as he is concerned he is obviously done with Mirror Group – he’s proved his point.”
Speaking to Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio 5 Live, he explained why these cases underlined the need to reform regulation for print and online publishers.
He described how the shift towards online news increased the temptation for clickbait to maximise readers and continued: “In that kind of environment you’re even under more pressure to break the rules and do things that are unethical and possibly unlawful, and that is precisely why we should bring [press regulation] up to date.
“We need proper independent and effective scrutiny of print and online media just as we have for broadcast journalism, which the vast majority of people trust because we know it is properly regulated.”
Listen to the full interview on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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