Media Law - defamation essay

The law of defamation in Australia is a highly complex instrument. It ultimately aims to provide compensation to individuals who have had their reputations unfairly damaged or who have been exposed to unfair judgement or ridicule as a result of words or publications made about them. There are however, many aspects of the legal concept defamation could be seen to unduly "hamper" the media.

The two main ways in which the courts deals with defamation cases is by applying principles established by the common law, and by applying provisions found in state specific statutory authorities.

As observed by Pearson (1997:102) from a historical perspective, defamatory material:

- exposes a plaintiff to "hatred contempt or ridicule"
(Parmitter v Copland (1840) 151 ER 340, at 342)
- "tends to lower the plaintiff in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally"
(Sim v Stretch [1936] 2 All ER 1237, at 1240)
- causes the plaintiff to ‘be shunned or avoided’
(Yous...