Until about an hour
ago I must have been one of the few people unaware of the identity of
the “celebrity couple” (the information being available on social media) at the centre of what I can only describe
as a legal circus.
Having no interest
what ever in the sexual doings of the famous I found the extensive
B.B.C. coverage of the farce annoying, many far more important events
were given mush less air time.
When informed of the
couples identity and the nature of the incident under scrutiny my
response was,”So what.”
Of course the real
issue is the matter of the freedom of the press to report to the
public without hindrance, and although I deplore these ludicrous
invasions into peoples private lives I would defend this freedom to
my last breath.
Having been on the
receiving end of such intrusive reporting in the past I speak with
some authority on this subject, I firmly believe that the
inconvenience which can be caused by these fearless expose' is well
worth enduring to keep this precious right intact.
The problem is,
once you begin to erode free speech where do you draw the line?
Most Governments
would be ecstatic if they were able to muzzle the press where their
own interests are concerned., and as we saw with the Anti Terrorist
Laws, who's misuse by Local Authorities and others has become
notorious I fear that any changes to this law would be equally
abused.
For instance because
of the anti Terrorist Law one can no longer hackle a politician at a
public meeting. At a Labour Party Conference an elderly war veteran
was manhandled out of the assembly by several burly minders merely
for shouting “Rubbish” at the then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Weather or not the
Chancellor was talking rubbish matters not at all, what does matter
is that we have apparently lost the right to tell him so if we feel
that he is!
We cannot have
selective freedom of speech. It must be total or it is worthless.
In allowing
Celebrities to keep their peccadillo’s private we shall open the
door to other far more serious censorship and this is one door that,
if we are not to follow countries like China and Russia in to the
censorship abyss must remain closed at all hazard.
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