ABSTRACT

Much has been written about the Human Rights Act (HRA) since it came into force in October 2000. Largely this has focussed either on the wording of certain key sections or on the scope of human rights protection in the UK, both creating what I have typified as a juriscentric approach to the topic. There has been only very limited engagement with issues outside this paradigm. Certainly there has been little account of the ability newspapers have – often under the guise of simple reportage – to steer and to direct, and to offer us slanted interpretations and an unbalanced diet. This piece adds to that literature by discussing the relationship between the media – specifically the stories and cases it reports, or omits – and human rights protection, locating that analysis within a media and communications framework.