UK: Colin Myler - "backdoor" privacy laws are restricting the media

Colin Myler, editor of the UK Sunday tabloid newspaper News of The World, says that "back door" privacy laws are restricting Britain's media. Myler put forward that smaller publishers  are placed under undue pressure by the legislation, since they frequently do not have the budget to take legal action.

He added that the lack of parliamentary discussion about these issues was worrying. According to Myler, the edicts from High Courts in London are prompted by Human Rights judges from the European Union, who are "unfriendly" to freedom of expression, while the MPs remain silent. 

Although the media may be partly responsible for the privacy situation, instructions imposed by Justice Eady, senior libel judge, and other prominent legal figures have left the UK media in an "unrecognisable" state.

Myler's paper was ordered to pay £60,000 in damages to world motorsport figure Max Mosley in July, AFP reported. Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre previously said that the "public shaming" of high-profile figures may be meaningful in "defending the parameters of what are considered acceptable standards of social behaviour."

"Some [newspapers] will struggle to survive, but, as an industry, we really do have to be more positive and not allow those so-called media experts and commentators to tell us how badly we are doing," Myler said.

Source: Journalism.co.uk, AFP