Similarly, in the court stated that speech” would be accorded Mosley ‘“political greater value than gossip or tattle”’. Judicial categorisation of certain “tittle expression as trivial tittle-tattle shows a clear (and arguably justifiable) circumspection towards such reportage. This disdain is particularly apparent in where Eady J had difficulty’ in concluding there was no legitimate Mosley ‘little public interest in video footage of the claimant engaging in private sexual activities; only reason these pictures are of interest is ‘The because they are mildly salacious and an opportunity to snigger’. He went on to say that for its own sake could never be justified. Yet it led many ‘Titillation thousands of people to see the footage’. Elsewhere judges dismissed similar types of reportage involving revelations about private sexual conduct as ‘tawdry allegations’, tittle tattle’, and public prurience’. ‘vapid ‘salacious’ ‘satisfy[ing] Such characterisations are perhaps a natural consequence of the nature of reportage disputed in the vast majority of MPI cases, most of which is and ‘kiss tell’ (or rather, and sell’). ‘kiss Despite operating as a dichotomy the categories of interest’ and ‘public to the public’ are not mutually exclusive. There is judicial ‘interesting acknowledgement that stories in the public interest also interest the public. may The point is illustrated by reference to the 1960s Profumo affair which, according to the following passages, involved public interest issues a and titillating sexual element: have little doubt that sexual relationships involving those who ‘I are in the public eye are generally likely to be interesting to … the public, but they will not necessarily be of genuine public interest. Sometimes, as for example long ago in the case of the scandal’, the information will fulfil both criteria.’ ‘Profumo whether publication is sought to genuinely inform public ‘… debate, or rather merely to titillate the undoubted interest of a section of the public in the sexual or private peccadillos of
Similarly, in Mosley the court stated that ‘“political speech” would be accorded greater value than gossip or “tittle tattle”’. Judicial categorisation of certain expression as trivial tittle-tattle shows a clear (and arguably justifiable) circumspection towards such reportage. This disdain is particularly apparent in Mosley where Eady J had ‘little difficulty’ in concluding there was no legitimate public interest in video footage of the claimant engaging in private sexual activities; ‘The only reason these pictures are of interest is because they are mildly salacious and an opportunity to snigger’. He went on to say that ‘Titillation for its own sake could never be justified. Yet it led many thousands of people to see the footage’. Elsewhere judges dismissed similar types of reportage involving revelations about private sexual conduct as ‘tawdry allegations’, ‘vapid tittle tattle’, ‘salacious’ and ‘satisfy[ing] public prurience’. Such characterisations are perhaps a natural consequence of the nature of reportage disputed in the vast majority of MPI cases, most of which is ‘kiss and tell’ (or rather, ‘kiss and sell’). Despite operating as a dichotomy the categories of ‘public interest’ and ‘interesting to the public’ are not mutually exclusive. There is judicial acknowledgement that stories in the public interest may also interest the public. The point is illustrated by reference to the 1960s Profumo affair which, according to the following passages, involved public interest issues and a titillating sexual element: ‘I have little doubt that sexual relationships involving those who are in the public eye … are generally likely to be interesting to the public, but they will not necessarily be of genuine public interest. Sometimes, as for example long ago in the case of the ‘Profumo scandal’, the information will fulfil both criteria.’ ‘… whether publication is sought to genuinely inform public debate, or rather merely to titillate the undoubted interest of a section of the public in the sexual or private peccadillos of
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