British ruling backs investigative reporting

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The Guardian newspaper calls it a “landmark” ruling in defence of investigative reporting. Britain’s court of appeal has used the defence of “responsible journalism” to dismiss a libel action against the publisher of a book about police corruption.
The October 2007 ruling shields the media from libel actions “even if not every allegation can be proved, (if) their writing amounted to ‘responsible journalism’ on a matter of public interest,” the paper reports. A former detective filed the lawsuit, claiming the book suggested he was involved in police corruption.
Read the BBC and Times of London reports.
A British media lawyer comments on the ruling.
See also: British ruling shields ‘responsible journalism’