Try Nick Davies’ book Flat Earth News for a nice account of how the Daily Mail made up a series of unsubstantiated lies about a couple, whom they erroneously claimed to be murderers – despite their having been acquited, in a court of law – just for the fun of it. Read all about how this couple had their lives ruined, and the Daily Mail was never held responsible because, guess what, there’s no legal aid for libel in UK courts of law.

Yes, newspapers can ruin little people’s lives. Directly and personally. And that’s why the god damn state – as a third party sovereign authority – is required to step-in and control the worst excesses (not that it does at present, mind).

That these problems don’t arise in Libertopia because there everything bad is the fault of the government (or if not it’s fault, then only exacerbated by the government), is simply an indication of the fact Libertopia is a Utopia, and in the sense of “no place”, not a More-esque punt on “happy-place” (which it certainly would not be).

How is it possible for little people to end up getting screwed by a newspaper? My guess is that the only way this can happen is if that newspaper somehow manages to put enough pressure on the government to ensure the little guy gets screwed; in which case, it seems to me, your problem is not so much with the market after all.

There’s no problem with the PCC. Watchdogs without teeth (or even bark) are all that’s required. The market will sort things out, and that’s efficient and we can leave it all alone.

If little people end up getting screwed by a newspaper, that’s ok, they can use their freedom as rational economic actors to buy another newspaper, thus bringing market pressure to bear in order to affect change.

Duh.

That our newspapers are owned by billionaire Australian press barons or tax-exiles hiding on the Isle of Sark, or that one of the key decision makers at the PCC is editor in chief of one of the newspaper most regularly complained against, is absolutely irrelevant.

Smash the evil BBC monopoly, I say. Kill google. Self regulation works.

It’s democracy, yeah?

He is the only person they get off their backside for.