Sunday, October 2, 2011

Rio Ferdinand's loss is a win for your right to know the truth - mirror.co.uk

Rio Ferdinand leaves the High Court (Pic: Reuters)

Rio Ferdinand leaves the High Court (Pic: Reuters)

Over the past decade the courts have created a law of privacy which ­protected the rich and powerful while ­undermining the freedom of the Press and the ­public’s right to know.

Now the tide has started to turn thanks to a landmark ruling in a case brought by footballer Rio ­Ferdinand against the Sunday Mirror.

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He objected to an interview we published with Carly Storey in which she revealed she’d had an on-off affair with him for 13 years.

Ferdinand accepted he’d been far from perfect earlier, but insisted he had cleaned up his act.

This new image led to him being ­appointed England captain after John Terry lost the role for having an affair.

With the growing list of cases where the courts allowed wealthy wrongdoers to shelter behind the cloak of anonymity, Ferdinand might well have won his action against the Sunday Mirror.

Instead, Mr Justice Nicol ruled the public’s right to know about his behaviour was more important than his right to privacy.

It would have been grotesque if, once again, an obscenely rich footballer who exploited his ­family image and got the England captaincy on that basis, was allowed to cover up the reality.

In a democracy, Press freedom is an essential bulwark against the rich and powerful, ­whether they be bankers, politicians or footballers.

The Press has been under attack recently, sometimes with justification. This case is a reminder of the crucial role newspapers can play in upholding the public’s right to know.



Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/opinion/voiceofthemirror/2011/10/02/rio-ferdinand-s-loss-is-a-win-for-your-right-to-know-the-truth-115875-23460195/#ixzz1ZfxBbrtm
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