The defences for reasonable reporting in the public interest never took hold and so too the capacity to defend an honest opinion. Your right to know: how Australia's defamation law stifles public interest journalism | Richard Ackland Read moreSpeakman remains hopeful that the courts will reject the idea of separate “front end” trials. He recognises that the current inadequate defences have a “chilling effect on public interest journalism”. The reforms seek to address this by introducing a New Zealand style defence of “responsible communication on a matter of public interest”. This new provision is supposed to be the major break-through in giving the media some air when it comes to dig-deep investigations and public interest probes.

Source: The Guardian January 24, 2020 18:56 UTC