1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Good morning everyone, Welcome to the Daily OS. It's Thursday, 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: the twenty seventh of May. My name is Sam Kazlowski, 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: and helping me make sense of today's news is Zara 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: sign Lot. Making news today, more COVID. 5 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 2: In Victoria, Trump's legal case. 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: Some good news about vaccines in the US, and a. 7 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 2: Chat about defamation laws in Australia. Here's today's Daily Digest. 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: The big story today is, of course, COVID nineteen in Victoria. Yesterday, 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: six new locally acquired COVID cases were recorded, bringing the 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: latest cluster of cases to fifteen. Here's what Acting Victorian 11 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: Premier James Molino said yesterday. 12 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 3: We are concerned about the number and also about the 13 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 3: kind of exposure sites, and the next twenty four hours 14 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 3: are going to be critical if we're going to make 15 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 3: if we're going to have to make any further changes 16 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 3: beyond the changes that we announced yesterday. 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: We're going to stay firmly on top of this story 18 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: throughout the day. We expect a number of developments and 19 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: you can check that all out on our Instagram page. 20 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 2: New York prosecutors have reportedly convened a grand jury to 21 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 2: consider evidence in a criminal investigation into former US President 22 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 2: Donald Trump's business dealings. Legal experts believe that the Manhattan 23 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 2: District Attorney's office is actually working towards seeking charges after 24 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,479 Speaker 2: it completes its two year investigation. District Attorney Cyrus Vance 25 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 2: Junior is conducting the investigation, which purportedly includes hush money 26 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 2: payments made to women on Trump's behalf, manipulated property valuations, 27 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 2: and unfair employee compensation. 28 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: Yesterday marked the years since the murder of George Floyd, 29 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: with Minneapolis residents gathering across the city to honor Floyd 30 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: and other victims of police violence. The event was organized 31 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: by the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, with members of the 32 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: Floyd family and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fray in attendance. 33 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 4: I will stand and be the voice for him. I 34 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 4: will stand and be the change for him. I will 35 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 4: stare it countinue to be the legacy for him. 36 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 2: And the good news. Half of all adults in the 37 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 2: US are now fully vaccinated against COVID nineteen, with sixty 38 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,239 Speaker 2: one percent of adults receiving at least one dose. The 39 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 2: highest rate of vaccination is those aged sixty five and older, 40 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 2: with seventy four percent being fully vaccinated. In a sign 41 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 2: that life in the US is returning to normal, late 42 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 2: night talk show hosts Stephen Colbert announced the return of 43 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 2: a live studio audience at his Manhattan Theater from the 44 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 2: middle of June, which is possibly Sam's favorite news of 45 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 2: the century. 46 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: Colbert has been calling it Our Late Show with Stephen 47 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: Colbert for eighteen months now, and it's finally getting back 48 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: the magical the in the Late Show when it moves 49 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: to the theater in June. I could not be more excited. 50 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 2: Over the last couple of days, we've seen former Attorney 51 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 2: General Christian Porter in the headlines again, and that's because 52 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 2: we're starting to see the beginnings of his defamation case. 53 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 2: So if you're not across this, Christian Porter has sued 54 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,239 Speaker 2: the ABC and one of its journalists, Louise Milligan, claiming 55 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 2: that Milligan and the ABC defamed him in an article 56 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 2: that detailed an alleged assault that the victim claimed Porter 57 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 2: was involved in. 58 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: So to prepare you for seeing Christian Porter's name in 59 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: the media a lot more in the next few weeks, 60 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: but also to prepare you for the amount of defamation 61 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: jargon that's coming your way, we thought we'd run through 62 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: what defamation is and why it is such a hot 63 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: topic for Australian media. We obviously think a lot about 64 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: defamation because we're in hard news, so we're constantly talking 65 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: about crime and allegations against people, and we need to 66 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: be really careful. So Zara and I will often have 67 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: conversations about whether something we're about to publish is within 68 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: the rules of publishing law in Australia. But I've noticed 69 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: a whole heap of media publications, especially this year, have 70 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: had to grapple with defamation law. I saw it on 71 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: the Instagram story for Shameless a few weeks ago that 72 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: they decided to cut a whole segment of their podcast 73 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: because they were scared of defamation risks for talking about 74 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: an Australian comedian who had allegations against him. So, if 75 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: we take it back a few steps, here's exactly what 76 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: defamation is. It's where a person or small business accuses 77 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: someone of publishing or distributing information that damages the person 78 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: or small business's reputation on the surface. One way that 79 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: media tries to get around this risk is by throwing 80 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: the word alleged in there before they say the person's name. 81 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: But the courts have recently decided that that's actually not enough. 82 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 2: So if we think of defamation as the definition that 83 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 2: Sam just gave, Christian Porter is now alleging that the 84 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 2: ABC defamed him despite them not naming him in the 85 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 2: said article, because there was enough information and the piece 86 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 2: about him to piece together who the journalist was implying 87 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,280 Speaker 2: was at the center of this rape allegation. And there's 88 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 2: no doubt that the ABC and Louise Milligan didn't name 89 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 2: him on purpose. Because Australia has really really strict defamation laws. 90 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: So it's agreed across the board that Australia has probably 91 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: the strictest defamation laws in the English speaking world. There 92 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: are several really important differences to draw out between Australia 93 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: and the US, for example, but if we to just 94 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: focus on one difference, experts say that American people have 95 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: this enshrined constitutional rights free speech, and we don't have 96 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: something similar, so it's harder to defend our right to 97 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: say anything in the media. In Australia, we see the 98 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: most common defense to defamation claims being truth, and this 99 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: is this idea that if you can prove as a 100 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: media organization that what you're alleging is true, then it 101 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: can't be defamatory. I can't say that Zara committed a 102 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: crime if I don't have the evidence to prove that 103 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: Zara committed that crime. In the US, on the other hand, 104 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: it's then on Zara to prove that she didn't commit 105 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: that crime. 106 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 2: We saw how defamation law plays out in Australia in 107 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 2: twenty fifteen, specifically when Rebel Wilson took an Australian tabloid 108 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 2: magazine to court saying that she had lied about her age, 109 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 2: her real name, and her childhood. Wilson accused the magazine 110 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 2: of defaming her, and following the initial court decision, the 111 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 2: magazine was forced to pay Wilson a massive four point 112 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 2: seven million dollars. Since then, another high profile defamation case 113 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 2: that we've seen in recent years was to do with 114 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 2: actor Jeffrey Rush, and in that case he was also 115 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 2: successful in proving that he had been defamed. So this 116 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 2: Christian Porter case is now another really big test of 117 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 2: how of Australia's defamation laws hold up. And that's why 118 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 2: a couple of months ago you would have seen that 119 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 2: no other publications were publishing the name of Christian Porter 120 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 2: and that's because of Australia's really strict defamation laws. It's 121 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 2: also the reason why you would have seen a lot 122 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 2: of news articles writing the word alleged in articles concerning 123 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 2: Christian Porter and other alleged incidents. 124 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: Of sexual assault. 125 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 2: If a news outlet goes ahead and says that somebody 126 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 2: has sexually assaulted someone else before it's proven in court, 127 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 2: they are in turn exposed to an expensive defamation lawsuit. 128 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: Some media organizations are really keen to take this defamation risk, 129 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: and there's a few reasons to think about. One is 130 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: that they've got really deep pockets so they can fund 131 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: the legal fight in court, and they're willing to have 132 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: that fight. The other reason is that the evidence compiled 133 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: by the journalist is so compelling that they're almost challenging 134 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: the person to challenge them in an open court because 135 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: they know they've got the evidence to prove that what 136 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: they're alleging happened. 137 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 2: So are you saying that that's what the ABC has 138 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 2: done here? 139 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: We don't actually know. Because when the ABC tried to 140 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: publish their defense, which is a typical part of a 141 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: defamation proceedings that the defense is made public as a document, 142 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: the court agreed with Christian Porter's legal team that such 143 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: publication would be even more detrimental to Christian Porter than 144 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: the claims the ABC had already made. So instead, what 145 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: we saw was a big, blacked out document of the 146 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:49,679 Speaker 1: ABC's defense. 147 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 2: And so that means that when the case is finally 148 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 2: up in court, that's when we'll hear the ABC's defense, 149 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 2: and they might choose the truth defense, they might partially 150 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 2: choose the truth defense, or they might go down another route. 151 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: We're going to be talking about the truth defense a lot. 152 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: It's the idea that something can't be defamatory if it's 153 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: abundantly clear that it's true. Another potential defense available to 154 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: the ABC. Again, we're not sure what's in the document, 155 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: but another potential defense is this idea of a public 156 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: interest defense. If you can prove that what you're saying 157 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: about somebody is in the public interest for the public 158 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: to know, then the court is unlikely to say that 159 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: it was defamatory. 160 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 2: That's all we have time for today, but it is 161 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 2: likely that this story will say in the news, so 162 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 2: please let us know if you have any other questions. 163 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,079 Speaker 2: In the meantime, follow the day's news on Instagram at 164 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 2: the daily os. 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