How the rich and powerful try to intimidate the press
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 September 2023
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week the editors of The Times and The Sunday Times wrote to the justice secretary, calling for a crackdown on the misuse of libel laws by the super-rich. Together with more than 60 editors, reporters and lawyers, they called for a specific law to address Slapps – strategic lawsuits against public participation.
In this bonus Saturday episode, we’re listening back to a conversation with Times Media’s editorial legal director Pia Sarma, first broadcast in January, in which she argues it's time to restore the balance between rich claimants and journalists pursuing the truth.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Pia Sarma, Editorial Legal Director, Times Media.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Get in touch: storiesofourtimes@thetimes.co.uk
Read more: 'Editors call for anti-Slapp law to protect investigative journalism' https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/editors-call-for-anti-slapp-law-to-protect-investigative-journalism-wxhjt0kfc
Clips: Times Radio, France 24, Parliament TV.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello. This weekend, we're bringing you an extra episode. |
| 0:06.5 | In Thursday's podcast, we mentioned the meticulous work of the Times lawyers. |
| 0:22.9 | You know, as a reporter to know that you have a legal team like that behind you who will not be intimidated, but also pushes us. |
| 0:29.7 | You know, they don't give us an easy right. |
| 0:31.6 | They absolutely make sure that we have done our jobs as thoroughly as possible and then assess what we have done. |
| 0:37.0 | But if they are confident in what we have done, they will not be intimidated. Day in, day out, on all sorts of |
| 0:44.2 | stories, the Times legal team make it possible for us to hold the powerful to account. Their work is |
| 0:51.9 | vital because for publishers, large and small, legal threats have become an increasingly familiar tactic. |
| 0:59.0 | You have lots of local media organisations that might be intimidated, and it means that very wealthy people can get away with things, knowing that they can bully their way into hushing things up. |
| 1:11.4 | But at the Times and the Sunday Times, we are determined not to allow that to happen. |
| 1:18.9 | And this week, the editors of the Times and the Sunday Times, along with many others, wrote to the Justice Secretary, |
| 1:26.6 | calling on the government to use the next |
| 1:28.7 | King speech to crack down on the misuse of libel laws by the super-rich. More than 60 editors, |
| 1:37.8 | reporters and lawyers have called for a specific anti-SLAPP law, and we'll explain more |
| 1:43.8 | about what SLAP means in just a moment. |
| 1:47.3 | We covered all of this and more in a fascinating conversation with the head of the Times legal team, |
| 1:53.6 | Pierre Sama. We first broadcast this back in January, but we thought it was well worth |
| 1:58.8 | revisiting. So, you're listening to stories of our times from the Times and the Sunday Times. |
| 2:04.6 | I'm Manvien Rana. |
| 2:06.6 | Today, how the rich and powerful try to intimidate the press. |
| 2:16.6 | We're going to look at the threat to journalism through three libel cases. |
| 2:22.1 | The fraudster, the East London gangster, and the Russian oligarch. |
... |
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