by barry | Dec 19, 2024 | media ownership, nuj, Press
On Tuesday 17 December the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in London ruled police officers acted illegally by spying on journalists Trevor Birney and his colleague Barry McCaffrey, in a bid to identify their sources. The ground breaking judgement found that in...
by barry | Jul 22, 2024 | Campaigns, media freedom, nuj, Press, unions
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will be able to enter evidence in the hearing into the cases taken by journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney (pictured thanks to Kevin Cooper ) arising from surveillance by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, revealed...
by barry | Jun 10, 2024 | Campaigns, media freedom, nuj
A report presented to the Policing Board of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on Thursday 6 June revealed that 323 applications for journalists’ phone data including 10 attempts to identify confidential sources had been made by the PSNI. In addition, 500 applications were...
by barry | Mar 26, 2024 | Campaigns, freedom of information, Government, international, nuj, Press, whistle blowing
Julian Assange has been given a reprieve in his fight against extradition to the US at the High Court in London. In a written statement handed down on Tuesday morning, the president of the king’s bench division, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson said that the...
by barry | Mar 7, 2024 | Campaigns, media freedom, nuj
The hearing into claims that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been covertly monitoring Northern Ireland journalists reported in my recent blog https://thespark.me.uk/2024/02/22/police-must-come-clean-on-media-surveillance/ was adjourned in London last...
by barry | Apr 1, 2023 | BBC, Government, media ownership, nuj, Press, Public Service Broadcasting
This week saw the publication of the government’s long awaited draft Media Bill. Such main- stream media attention it’s received highlights the proposed repeal of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. This piece of legislation is based on the Leveson...
