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Media law is a fast-developing area of scholarship that raises many high-profile and controversial questions. Recent issues include the use of privacy injunctions, the regulation of the press, the political power of media moguls, mass leaks of government information, and the responsibility of the digital media to prevent the spread of extreme content and fake news. This study looks at these issues and the key debates in media law. The book includes chapters examining the protection of personal rights to reputation and privacy, the administration of justice, the role of government censorship, the protection of the newsgathering process, the regulation of the media and the impact of digital communications. The analysis is grounded in an account of media freedom that looks at the important democratic functions performed by the media and journalism. Examining various key themes, this study shows how those functions continue to evolve in a changing political culture and also how the media are subject to a range of legal and informal constraints. The book asks whether the law strikes the right balance in protecting media freedom while preventing the abuse of media power, and considers the future of media law in the digital era. It is essential reading for students and scholars of media law alike. Rowbottom's book is both welcome and timely. It is also, without doubt, a tour de force that not only significantly contributes to, but also moves forward, the media law canon... Rowbottom has managed to strike a very difficult balance: this book is accessible to a wide range of audiences, yet it provides a depth of analysis and insight that will make it invaluable to media law scholars, practitioners and students. -- Peter Coe * Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly *

Media Law

1. Media Freedom

I. Introduction

II. Historical Background

III. The Protection of Media Freedom in UK Law

IV. Why Media Freedom is Different from Freedom of Expression

V. The Functions of the Media

VI. How is Media Freedom Protected?

VII. What is the Media?

VIII. Interferences with Media Freedom

IX. Conclusion

2. Personal Rights: Reputation and Privacy

I. Introduction

II. Defamation Law

III. Privacy

IV. The Public Interest

V. The Legal Protection of Personal Rights: Miscellaneous Provisions

VI. Remedies

VII. Conclusion

3. The Media and the System of Justice

I. Introduction

II. Contempt of Court

III. Open Justice

IV. Conclusion

4. Censorship, Obscenity and Secrecy

I. Introduction

II. Obscene, Indecent and Pornographic Content

III. Government Secrecy and National Security

IV. Terrorism

V. Conclusion

5. Newsgathering

I. Introduction

II. Protecting Journalists' Sources

III. Journalists' Material

IV. Surveillance of Newsgathering Processes

V. Freedom of Information

VI. A Public Interest Defence

VII. Conclusion

6. Media Regulation

I. Introduction

II. Regulating Content and Conduct

III. Media Ownership and Concentration

IV. Conclusion

7. The Digital Media

I. Introduction

II. Liability for Publications

III. User-generated Content

IV. Digital Intermediaries

V. Conclusion

8. Conclusion

I. The Changing Role of Public Opinion

II. Media Law, Information Flows and Informal Controls

III. The Methodology of Balancing in Media Law

IV. Media Effects

V. Media Power