We all know the adage: never write down anything you don’t wish to see on the front page.
That’s something I certainly took to heart during my fleeting (and extremely unpleasant) time as a political staffer 20 years ago. It’s something I still chant to myself as a journalism academic, having watched academic colleagues’ throwaway lines end up gracing news pages.
But should Brittany Higgins’ personal diary entries, provided to police as part of an investigation, end up in the paper? The old tabloid journalist in me has to say: “Hell yes!” There’s clearly huge public interest in the case, and there’s nothing against the law in printing evidence from a court case when a reporter can get access to it.
The piece
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.