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An internet expert says the legal system must learn to manage issues around blogging during trials.
The Solicitor-General's office is investigating bloggers who are commenting on the Christchurch trial of Clayton Weatherston who is accused of murdering his former girlfriend.
At issue is whether the online pundits are breaching contempt of court laws that protect the right to a fair trial.
Kiwiblog creator David Farrar says he is always careful to hide contentious public comments until after any trial. He says blog sites can be as dangerous as talkback radio with people commenting at will about anything in the news.
He says he does not yet know what specific comments are being investigated.
A leading media commentator says New Zealand's criminal justice system has major issues. Canterbury University Professor Jim Tully says a big problem is created when anyone can publish information so freely. He says gone are the days when exposure could only happen through traditional forms of media.
Associate Law Professor Bill Hodge says if blogging was done in a newspaper it would definitely be contempt of court. He says whether or not you agree with the law, it should apply to everyone - mainstream media and the internet.
Hodge says trials must be decided by a jury on the evidence heard on oath, and subject to cross examination, in a court room.
The president of the internet users group Internet New Zealand, Peter Macaulay, says the situation is not going to change and it is a global issue. Macaulay says it is a very old system grappling with a very new medium .
Macauley told TVNZ News at 8 that the legal system has had similar challenges in the past but the difference now is the speed of dissemination and the way people can respond.
He says blogging cannot be policed and the legal system must manage the legal processes.
However bloggers can be tracked down and need to be aware that they cannot hide behind a veil of anonymity. Macauley says serious bloggers enjoy the publicity and tend to use their names and problems usually arise when other people chose to respond.
He says younger people are less interested in privacy issues and more interested in the way they present themselves, tending to put information on social networks that would make older people cringe.
Macauley says the difference between bloggers and journalists is "fuzzy" and many bigger media organisations are using bloggers. But he says in New Zealand bloggers are determinedly independent.
"Blogging is the intermediate step on the way to a new way of journalism."
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