ABSTRACT
The public interest is the interests of the general public in having all information available except for information that genuinely threatens national security. If the judiciary were always to approach with scepticism government claims for suppression in the interests of national security, the public interest would be much better served. The two parties involved, the government wanting suppression of the information and the media wanting publication, both claim to represent the public interest. This chapter focuses on the issue of the 'public interest', and how it is, or rather is not, objectively ascertained by the two parties. It further contains an investigation of which side, if any, does actually represent the public interest. There is an examination of the way in which the government and the media manipulate the news while purporting to represent the public interest, followed by a look at the role of the judiciary.
