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Issue No. 126 | 01 March 2002 |
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I Don�t Like Sprouts
Interview: Clean Hands Corporate: Out of Asia Unions: Tears, Real And Crocodile, At The Ansett Wake Economics: Labour�s Capital: Individual Or Collective? History: Mardi Gras: The Biggest Labour Festival? International: Driving A Hard Bargain Review: In Bed With a Sub-Machine Gun Satire: Whitlam Forgives Kerr: "At Least He Didn't Dismiss A Rape Victim" Poetry: Dear Mother
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review
 More on Harry BridgesWell Done, SplitterRepeating History
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Tool Shed The Price Aint Right
When 2UE signed Price to take on Alan Jones in the battle for Struggle Street they were looking for a brash headline grabber. But if Price's behaviour in the courts is anything to go by, they have scored themselves little more than a shrinking violet. Price's lawyers this week moved to freeze the personal assets of the wife of Crikey.com founder and corporate crusader Stephen Mayne, after the couple sold their home to clear debts associated with the running of Mayne's independent website. It was the latest salvo in a long-running defamation battle after Crikey posted a media release issued by a third party containing a number allegations against Price. Now we have our differences with Mayne, a former Kennett spin-doctor who's not averse to a little union-bashing from time to time. And regular readers of Crikey will know that he publishes unsubstantiated rumours and allegations all the time; indeed, his editorial policy is: publish and be damned and if I'm wrong I'll issue a groveling apology later. But this aside, what is an established media figure like Price going after a minnow like Mayne for? Either he has a very thin skin or a deep streak of vengeance. As Mayne points out, the article subject to the legal action was downloaded just 435 times in 27 hours by 320 different people. The offending material was way down the page, so what fraction of this fraction of the population finally read the piece is unclear. What is clear is that Price is a serial litigant, with at least four cases in the past ten years, including former AFL start Kevin Bartlett for questioning his knowledge of the code, The Fat's Dr Turf and trade mag Adnews We're being careful to ensure we're not added to the list, but we wouldn't put it past him. Our question is: why should a bloke who makes his living peddling his opinions take legal action against others who peddle their's? Defamation laws should be there for those without a voice in the media to redress injustices that they do not have the means to answer themselves. The idea of highly paid media personalities accessing the courts to manage their media crises is a joke. The spectre of journalists suing other journalists is the sort of caper that gives us all a bad name. I mean, do we really need to see Richard Carelton break down in the courts to accept his sincerity as a reporter and a human being? Wouldn't a well-choreographed noddy do the trick? And why couldn't Price respond to his perceived injustice by attacking Mayne on air, eating up some of the thousands of hours he'll be paid so well to fill up with his bile, rather than taking the poor fella to the brink of bankruptcy? I'm sure Mayne wouldn't sue. By taking on Mayne and his personal finances, Price has elevated this defamation case into an issue of freedom of speech. In the media of the 21st century, we have the technology for a diversity of opinions to undermine the authority of the centre. It's just that the law hasn't caught up. One thing's for sure, the media needs a lot more Stephen Maynes and a lot fewer Steve Prices.
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