To what extent does the law of England and Wales balance public interest in disclosure of
... Thus British citizens may do anything they wish providing it is not forbidden by the written law. ... There would be “no public discussion of the issues affecting the citizen, and he could have no access to the facts upon which to base his opinions or decisions.” This opens the debate on whether the British public live in a democracy or an “elective dictatorship” as stated by Lord Hailsham. It is a popular belief that the journalist has exemplary rights over that of an ordinary citizen and to a certain extent this is the case journalists need to be able to report information as it is however, a journalist has no legal right to go anywhere, do anything, say anything or publish material that is over the boundary of any ordinary citizen. For example Britain as a nation has become increasingly obsessed with the lives of those in the public eye whereas those in the public eye are obsessed with privacy. ... On the other hand they are obsessed with their privacy trying to hide their real lives from the public gaze. ... “The law of confidentiality is used to keep the information out of the media and has been extended to provide protection for privacy.” In the ‘Spy Catcher’ case of 1988 Lord Donaldson gave his judgement about journalists’ position in relation to the law “…. ... ” It is difficult to understand why the press can take such a crucial role in our society it is not that they are our betters or have any special knowledge than the general public but it is for the simple fact that they relay every day ‘gossip’ to the nation. They act on our behalf as the public and there is nothing stopping any member of the general public to know and to diversify any form of journalism. Lord Donaldson has suggested that the press can conjure an astonishing amount of power that can shape and change beliefs, opinions and views of others however, all types of media are therefore public information and must be in the interests of both the public and the people featured in the news themselves. Many believe that freedom of speech does exist but is restricted because once again the law must draw a line between exposing misdemeanours and attacks on the reputation of the individual as stated prior. The law that covers most of this area is defamation incorporating libel and slander. ... In 1975 the Lord Chief Justice made the law slightly clearer by saying “the kind of secrets to be protected could include public secrets- that is, information emanating from the state of public business.