What are the Advantages & Disadvantages of Australia’s Defamation Law as it applies to the media industry? Include comparison with defamation laws in the US?

Abstract
The Defamation Act 2005 objective is to protect the reputation and standing of distinguishable individuals. The law aims to balance free speech with the rights of individuals to enjoy a reputation without indefensible attack. However the question remains as to whether the act protects media personal in allowing them to continue practicing their profession to the best their ability. This question is addressed in the paper which provides an in depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the defamation Act in relation to the Australian media landscape. The …show more content…

Firstly that the unclear nature of defamation laws has seen legal advisors work closely with journalists and secondly that the story development process has been altered to determine the benefits of publication for the public versus the potential risk of defamation.

Responsible Journalism: Defamation law & News Production in Australia the Us and the Uk
Andrew Kenyon and Timothy Marjoribanks
2007
Kenyon and Marjoribanks wrote another report in 2007 that explored the question of “Responsible journalism in the context of the relationship between news production practices in newspapers and defamation law in Australia the US and the UK” (Kenyon & Marjoribanks 2007). This article written post the unfired Defamation Act 2005 attempts to understand the links between what is considered responsible journalism and who decides if it is so. The research paper draws on a three year empirical study funded by the Australian Research Council into “news production and defamation in the US, Uk and Australia ”( Kenyon & Marjoribanks 2007). The report is set out in a simpler format than their previous article however does draw on some of its findings along with external studies. The piece is also significantly more objective in its analysis of the research and better addresses both sides of the issue prior to drawing the conclusions. These conclusions have developed the information in the previous