Media Law Report on Reynolds Privelage Defence Essay

Media Law Report on Reynolds Privelage Defence - Essay Example Does Reynolds privilege apply in the case study and determination of whether it amounts to defamation with application of case law? A conclusion of the determination of the facts will be made after the facts have been made and recommendations to that effect made too. In the case of Reynolds .vs. The Times Newspaper,1 The Prime Minister Albert Reynolds was accused by the British press of deliberately misleading the Irish parliament. Reynolds sued for defamation and the defendants raised qualified privilege as a defence. At the trial, the jury gave a verdict that was in favour of Reynolds and he was awarded damages. The Court of Appeal rejected this decision and instead they ordered for a re-trial and held that the said publications had not been covered under the qualified privilege. The defendants went ahead and argued that there should be some form of privilege available to newspapers regarding political matters that they publish. The House of Lords rejected this argument stating tha t such an argument would fail to provide adequate protection for reputation and it would make it difficult for one to discern political discussions from other serious matters. Qualified privilege was held be in existence only when the common law test is satisfied. The common law test is seen whereby a person who makes a communication has a duty or interest to make the communication to the person with whom it is made, then the person to whom the communication is made has a corresponding duty or interest to receive the said communication. It was on this case that Lord Nicholls then came up with a list to determine whether qualified privilege exists. One should take into account how serious the allegation is, the nature of the information, the urgency of the matter, whether the comment was sought from the plaintiff, whether the article contained the plaintiff’s side of the story, the tone of the article and the circumstances of the publication should be considered. This case the refore came up with what is now called the Reynolds tests, which are the tests that someone should consider when raising qualified privilege as a defence. These tests signify how important it is for the source of information to be reliable before a defence on qualified privilege can be raised. The allegations that have been made to Billie are of a serious nature first because they touch on public interest. Anything that concerns the public should be treated with utmost concern and independent investigations should be done. Qualified privilege is raised when a matter touches on public interest. In Bonnick .vs. Morris2, qualified privilege was used as a defence. The House of Lords in this case stated that the law relating to qualified privilege was consistent with article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms3. It also stated that though the wordings may not be the same, the law relating to the Reynolds principle is consistent with t heir constitution under section 224. If the newspaper was seeking to publish the defamatory statement, it should have a factual statement. The anonymous source provided no information. There should also have been an inclusion of the defendants own statement. It was observed in this case that Reynolds principle were meant to provide a degree of responsible journalism and this is where there is a proper balance is held between the reputation of individuals and freedom of expression on matters that touch on the public. In this case,

Languages and thoughts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Languages and thoughts - Essay Example To settle an inquisitive novice these terms can be described very plainly. Thought can simply be defined as a mental state of a person at any instant of time. Generally, what best describes languages is a combination of vocabulary and grammar (a set of rules that defines how language can be used properly and meaningfully). This combination does not include phrases and idioms. According to a web dictionary a language can be defined as, â€Å"Any means of conveying or communicating ideas; specifically, human speech; the expression of ideas by the voice; sounds, expressive of thought, articulated by the organs of the throat and mouth.† Hence the narration of thoughts with the help of a language should be â€Å"Speech†. The superficial correlation of language, thought and speech, as mentioned in the text above, lays the ground for a stream of philosophical questions. Like, is there any relationship of interdependency between language and speech? Does a speech always depict the respective thought process or do people use it to conceal their thoughts as well? How does the process of thinking take place in people’s mind and at what stage does it initiate? How does a child learn to make use of languages to narrate thoughts? What is ego-centric or internal thinking? What role do instincts play in an infant’s thought process and narration of thoughts? In order to pursue answers to the above questions the studies of renowned psychologists and philosophers are looked up. Among them Vygotsky’s study is of executive importance. Language is not dependent on anything else but itself. There are various theories to elaborate this. Russian psychologist Vygotsky in his book â€Å"Thought and Language†, emphasizes upon the social nature of a language stating that the environment surrounding a person essentially influences his thoughts. Young children are influenced greatly by their environment and by the input they get from the elders surro unding them. These influences lay the basic principles of thought and learning within children. Vygotsky emphasizes that the skills, values and knowledge imparted to children by their elders are done with the help of languages and social interactions. The words that come out of an elder’s mouth are objects and thoughts of a youngster. Since Vygotsky believes that languages and thoughts are interdependent internally the rational development of a child is dependent upon his language development. Interactions with the environment formulate and polish the inner speech of a child. The inner speech which is the core of all his personality’s thought stream. The development of a toddler can be a perfect example that depicts Vygotsky’s theory. Partial utterance of merely a single word means one whole sentence. The mere sounds of an infant’s goo gaa and pointing and different objects are his initial aptitudes towards expression of his thoughts. Just saying ‘d rink’ could mean that he wants to drink something or could even be saying what another person is drinking. The next step after utterance of a word from is mouth is that he looks at the expressions of the people surrounding him. Their reactions are registered into his stream of thoughts giving him the idea of the nature of his spoken word. He registers and learns when to say the specific word and when not to say it thus, the next time the child utters the very same word with influence of his past experience. At a later stage in the development of thought