Gagging the Press

Despite the best efforts of some, we live in a free society and part of that free society includes a free press.
The press fulfils a role, not just in informing us of what’s going on around us, but their investigations have brought about the demise of corrupt and wrongdoing influential persons who would have otherwise “got away with it”. The Daily Telegraph’s investigation and subsequent exposure of the expenses scandal is a very good case in point.

It therefore sickens me when the judiciary feel that it is appropriate to gag a newspaper when they want to report on the shenanigans of a celebrity.

Celebrities get their fame and fortunes through the general public and the press play a large part in promoting that fame. This is a double-edged sword, however. It’s got to be accepted that the press are free to report on all aspects of your life if you seek fame.

The recent case involving a married footballer is a case in point. The fact that the said player (who I hope will be named soon) has lots of money does not entitle him to be exempt from the scrutiny of the press.

It would seem that not only did this character have an affair with 2 women, but he is trying to hide his unfaithfulness behind the appalling European Convention of Human Rights.

How dare he!

If he is that worried about what people say about him then he should have kept it in his trousers.

The world of football is full of young men in their prime mixing in an all male ego and testosterone filled environment. So if a young WAG wannabe turns up and offers herself to such a specimen, it doesn’t take a genius to work out what will happen. OK, it won’t change the course of history, but it will give us something to read about in the Sunday papers or chat about in the pub.

In 3 weeks we would have forgotten it.Let’s face it John Terry tried to gag the papers but it all came out and he lost England captaincy. Now look what’s happened apart from a few John Terry jokes, the issue is forgotten and he has been restored as England Captain

What these men and their lawyers have absolutely no rights to do is to try and silence a free press.

The hiding of the petty debauchery of overpaid prima donnas is not worth losing the freedom of information and the free press that we enjoy in this country