By John McLellan, Director of Scottish Newspaper Society

NOW that Sir Cliff has won his case for a “serious invasion” of privacy against the BBC, the corporation is claiming the ruling marks a significant shift against Press freedom and the public right to know.

They may well be right, but in the BBC’s haste to restore its reputation following the Jimmy Savile disgrace, they and South Yorkshire Police have been the architects of this situation.

There is now a huge question mark over all news/police joint efforts, such as fly-on the wall documentaries and on-patrol reporting involving anyone who is not found guilty. It won’t just be “Police, Camera, Action” but in future “Police, Camera, Action, Lawyer.”

It layers another privacy protection on top of existing safeguards and for the rich and powerful it could be an easy way to prevent any reporting of investigations, and not just sensational cases involving celebrities. Any media identification of people or companies alleged to have been involved with wrong-doing could now claim their privacy is being breached and it could kill investigative journalism stone dead.

The bar of a privacy breach is far lower than that of defamation, as proved in the Naomi Campbell case when she successfully sued the Daily Mirror for breach of privacy in revealing her treatment for drug addiction despite making anti drug statements. Or Max Mosley, the motor racing chief who won his case against the News Of The World, despite the story of his involvement in an orgy with five prostitutes being true bar one fact.

For claimants, the privacy bar is already low but the over-zealous BBC has helped lower it further.