Press pressure: managing media intrusion during live litigation

Often where there is high profile litigation going on, the press will want to report on the court proceedings, and this is generally positive as it helps the open justice principle – that justice should not only be done but should also be seen to be done (unless the court decides to hear a case or aspects of a case in private).

Sports litigation tends to engage a wide audience as it feeds into our cultural engagement/ identification with teams and players, but can the press just do what they like and print what they fancy?

Of course, the press like a good story, and the old joke about truth not getting in the way of a good story does occasionally kick in!

There are some basic steps to keep in mind however, which should ensure that any reporting of the court proceedings is fair and reasonably balanced, and that journalists and indeed lawyers are held to account for their actions.

In short, the press (hopefully with good editorial standards) are generally able to choose what they write about in ongoing court proceedings, provided that the report is accurate and not misleading. Typically, just publishing one side’s arguments would be misleading as it would be inaccurate and unfair, and then runs the risk of being in contempt of court. This threatens the fairness of any court proceedings and could ultimately mean the trial cannot take place fairly. Against that, a fair and accurate report of any proceedings is protected by qualified privilege.

So, it is worth monitoring coverage and then being prepared to contact the press and being ready to politely remind them of their responsibilities. You can always contact IPSO (the independent regulator for the UK print and news industry) and /or have your lawyer draft up a media and communications protocol letter in which you can set out your concerns in detail.

What’s the position where the press wants to interview those involved in active litigation? Again, the issue is fairness and the need not to prejudice ongoing court proceedings, so the press need to ensure fairness and accuracy by not printing one-sided accounts, without giving the other side an opportunity to put its side of the story or otherwise comment. The press can be in breach of its own codes of practice by failing to publish both sides of an account given by a party to litigation, and again runs the risk of losing the protection of qualified privilege and / or being in contempt of court.