NOM DE PLUME

“If reading is regulated, then music, conversation, every incident of social life must be regulated to”



Wrote John Milton in the poem Areopagitica in response to the Licensing Order of 1643, which instituted pre publication licensing in parliamentary England. Effectively recreating the tight state censorship system of the much reviled star chamber. It’s provisions allowed for the search, seizure and destruction of any books offensive to the government and the imprisonment of any offensive writers, printers and publishers.



In an age where opposition parties attempt to tightly restrict media ownership, and others condemn the free press, Miltons warning bears repeating. The media is fallible, we saw its guts laid bare during the Leveson Enquiry but without a strong tradition of investigative journalism we lose an integral part of a free society.



Alas press freedom in Britain is not what it should be, ranked 33rd in the World Press Freedom Index we are behind many other Western European Nations. One major contributing factor to this is the risk to the financial position of newspapers, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 would require a newspaper that declined to join a state backed regulator to pay both sides costs in privacy and defamation cases regardless of the facts of the case.



It’s damaging effect is to deter quality reporting for fear of what reminiscent of the Licensing Order of 1643 a completely arbitrary punishment for journalistic expression. It is therefore gratifying that the government have seized the issue by the nettle and taken steps to remove the condition from statue and do away with the arbitrary financial penalties on investigative journalism by submitting the Crime and Courts amendment bill. It may be a small step but it will go along way to boosting the financial strength of newspapers and their ability to report on those in positions of power.

META: This article was written by Nom de Plume (LeChevalierMal-Fait) for the Telegraph separate to his canon character.