The failure of Arron Banks’s case against her is a vindication of the reporter’s work
The victory of the freelance journalist and Guardian and Observer contributor Carole Cadwalladr over the businessman Arron Banks, in the libel case he brought against her, is a vindication of Ms Cadwalladr’s work and her supporters. It is also a victory for the wider cause of press freedom. The judgment handed down on Monday by Mrs Justice Steyn pointed to “proper allowance for editorial judgment” and the “special importance of expression in the political sphere”. It asserted that free expression of this nature is at the core of the concept of democracy.
Ms Cadwalladr’s defence at trial – that she believed statements she made in a Ted talk in April 2019, and in a related tweet, were in the public interest – was partly successful. But Mr Banks’s suit also failed on the grounds that he failed to establish that “serious harm” to his reputation was caused, or was likely to be caused, by Ms Cadwalladr’s talk during the second time period under consideration, from April 2020. It is highly significant, and good news for media organisations, that the court decided Ms Cadwalladr’s talk amounted to “political expression of high importance, and great public interest (in the strictest sense), not only in this country but worldwide”.
