Right of a blogger’s anonymity: a selection of views
Since this week’s ruling that NightJack, winner of the Orwell Prize’s first political blogging award, could not remain anonymous was announced – summed up by Paul Bradshaw here - bloggers, commentators and commenters have typed furiously (a few the links at the end of this post). Has the Times been hypocritical? What are the implications for those working and writing about life in the public sector? Should one be able to protect one’s identity as a blogger… or journalist?
The only thing Journalism.co.uk will add is this insight into the Times’ investigative process of the case, as provided by the Times:
“The action arose after Patrick Foster, a Times journalist, identified the NightJack blogger ‘by a process of deduction and detective work, mainly using information on the internet,’ the judge said.”
“Mr Horton was adamant that he had taken great pains to keep his identity secret. But on his blog, he also described his visits to a jiu-jitsu club, adding a hyperlink to the website of the organising body for the martial art. Lancashire Constabulary jiu-jitsu club lists only one member who is a detective – Detective Constable Richard Horton.”
Some of the wider discussion:
- Enemies of Reason: ‘Where did I put that cloak of anonymity?’
- Zoe Margolis: ‘Privacy‘
- Ian Reeves: ‘Night Jack: the end of the anonymous blogger?’
- Richard Horton, the Times: ‘My Everyman posts seemed to strike a chord’
- Random Acts of Reality (aka Tom Reynolds): ‘Notes on NightJack’
- Gary Andrews: ‘NightJacking anonymity’
- Gawker: ‘You don’t have the right to anonymity’
Finally, Horton’s Orwell Prize win as reported by Journalism.co.uk in April 2009:
“Anonymous blogger ‘Jack Night’ took the award in the blogging category, for his site NightJack. In a speech made on his behalf, Jack said the last year had seen blogging become a more important part of the political reporting world. The blogger, who ended his posting after being shortlisted for the award, donated his prize to the Police Dependants’ Trust.”
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June 17th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
[...] already did a round-up post for the Journalism.co.uk Editors’ Blog but these some are some good points I’ve seen made since [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 9:21 am
[...] of the issues raised by a British court’s decision to reveal the identity of anonymous police blogger NightJack, Paul Bradshaw offers seven tips on keeping [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 10:34 am
[...] Journalism.co.uk har mange gode lenker om den, og Judith har fulgt opp med et par ekstra lenker på sin private blogg. I NightJacks tilfelle er bloggen nå ettersom jeg forstår blitt fjernet. [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 10:54 am
[...] UPDATE 7: Fellow public service blogger and ambulance driver Tom Reynolds gives his views on the case. Chicken Yoghurt gives his on the media’s use of anonymous sources. David MacLean responds: “Of course journalists rely on anonymous sources, but if a rival national newspaper found out who was tipping off a competitor, they’d more than likely expose them if the resulting story would be of interest to the public.”. Emily Bell highlights the raft of furious comments on The Times’ Crime Central blog. Gary Andrews gives his take. And Journalism.co.uk round up some more besides. [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
The Times vrs NightJack: Destroying Journalists’ Reputation…
And so, e-mails and tweets arrive asking what I think of the exposure of anonymous police blogger NightJack by The Times. I think you should probably read the couple of compilations of links that Judith has done on journalism.co.uk and……
June 18th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
[...] and comments have been fairly negative about the Times's decision to unmask Nightjack, the no-longer-anonymous police blogger – none more [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 1:37 am
[...] Fler synpunkter kan du läsa på journalism.co.uk. [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 10:12 am
[...] have been much in the news this week, with much debate over the unmasking of police blogger Nightjack by The Times. Paul Bradshaw’s Online Journalism Blog, always a good point of reference, [...]
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
[...] and detective' process. I've previously rounded up a good mix of links on the Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog and my own blog which tell the story, but here are a selection of the best blog posts, which draw [...]
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
[...] first post for the site looks at the implications of the NightJack case (which I’ve previously rounded up here) with links to some of the best UK blog posts on the subject. “A victory for freedom of [...]
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
[...] Eady die „Schlussfolgerungs- und Detektivarbeit“ nannte. Ich habe bereits einige Links auf dem Redakteursblog von Journalism.co.uk und meinem eigenen Blog zusammengestellt, über die die ganze Geschichte nachzuvollziehen ist. Hier [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 3:01 am
[...] “Schlussfolgerungs- und Detektivarbeit” nannte. Ich habe bereits einige Links auf dem Redakteursblog von Journalism.co.uk und meinem eigenen Blog zusammengestellt, über die die ganze Geschichte nachzuvollziehen ist. [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 11:42 am
[...] Three warnings attached to this Ed Pick: 1. We don’t who he is, who he works for, or if it’s really true. 2. It contains very strong language. 3. This blogger might not be in a newspaper job for a long if he gets the NightJack treatment. [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
[...] from the Committee to Protect Bloggers. It looked at the recent Liskula Cohen case in New York, Times v NightJack in the UK, and raised multiple questions about the practicalities – and future – of blogging [...]