U.K. Court Decision Defends Right To Privacy

This week, a U.K. court ruled against a media tabloid for the way in which they dug up their scoop on a celebrity figure, Max Mosley, well known in the world of Formula One. The News Corp tabloid The News Of The World was ordered to pay him about $120,000US (60,000 pounds) in damages to Mosley, ruling that the method used to film him was an unlawful invasion of his private life. Let’s just say that it was the usual gossipy-tattle-tale stuff which for which tabloids are so famous.

Rael commented: “This is a wonderful decision limiting the invasion of privacy abilities of the “mediashit” powers. It was about time to limit the actions of the so called "journalists" who continue to act as if they are above the law and destroy the private lives of thousands of people. Journalists need to be held accountable for their words. Billions of peoples’ opinions and value systems are impacted by the media – be it the truth, half truths or lies.”

Our readers know that Raelians support freedom of all kinds. But freedom comes with responsibilities.

Celebrities in many countries know very well how these “anything-for-a-buck-journalists” destroy lives. We all remember the story of Princess Diana whose entourage was speeding in order to escape paparazzi and ended in a tragedy. You may also remember that journalists in Africa were sentenced to many years in prison for printing things which formed public opinion, causing hatred which eventually turned into genocide. But these cases us justice against manipulating journalists are too few. But, it is a start, and this U.K. ruling could tip the scales in a more fair direction.

Interestingly, this court decision was based more according to the European Convention on Human Rights rather than U.K law. It’s difficult to tell this early if this will set precedence, but what is interesting here is to ask why countries like U.K., France, Switzerland and Belgium don’t have national laws which respect the Human Rights Charters they have signed and agreed to abide by. This mess has been especially bad in France, Switzerland and Belgium, but by no means are they the only ones. The media enjoys reckless freedom in many countries like the US and Canada - especially in Quebec. In fact, Raelians know the power of the media to destroy lives. Thanks to rumors and half-truths, journalists, and we use the term loosely, many Raelians in the countries mentioned above have lost jobs, custody of children, even been refused service in restaurants – all based on money making lies of the media. Only a few months ago, Rael conceptualized a new website which will be dedicated to exposing unethical media practices. It’s just getting started, and so far it’s mostly in french since all the countries mentioned above speak french, but feel free to visit it – and send us examples of this media manipulation! Maybe you can help expose this practice, too. :-) www.mediashit.org

Posted on Fri 01 Aug 2008 - 07:03:38 | Recommend article:               tweet