Press regulation in an era of convergence: An introduction

While the transition of traditional newspapers and magazines to the online space is gathering pace, and the literature on multimedia journalism is proliferating, little attention has been paid to date to the implications of convergence for the press in regulatory terms. One such regulatory dilemma arises from the proliferation of video content on newspaper websites. It is this question and others at the conjuncture of press freedom and the dynamics unleashed by convergence that the papers in this special section seek to shed light upon

Closed Data: Defamation and Privacy Disputes in England and Wales

The Coalition Government has prioritised 'open data' as a 'powerful tool' to 'empower citizens', with a 'transparency commitment' to publish more crime and anonymised sentencing data and the Ministry of Justice has set out an open data strategy covering both civil and criminal courts. However, legal researchers frequently encounter inaccessible or 'closed' data, when they attempt to access basic information concerning civil cases. Better-organised and more open information would help inform public debates relating to procedural and substantive civil law - the discussion around libel reform and privacy-related interim injunctions, for example. This paper will argue that a lack of public data about defamation and privacy litigation, indicated by the Impact Assessment for the Defamation Bill 2012 and the report by the Master of the Rolls' Committee on Super-Injunctions in 2011, hampers the policy-making process, public debate and academic research around these issues of public interest

Thoughts on a Thinker-Based Approach to Freedom Of Speech

While agreeing with Seana Shiffrin that any free speech theory must depend on assumptions about our need for free thinking, I am sceptical about her claim that her thinker-based approach provides the best explanation for freedom of speech. Her argument has some similarities with Mill’s argument from truth and with self-development theories, though it improves on the latter. But the thinker-based approach does not show why political discourse, broadly construed, is protected more strongly in all jurisdictions than gossip and sexually explicit speech. Nor does it explain why the ‘mass’ speech of corporations and the mailings of political parties and charities are fully protected by provisions such as the First Amendment. My article concludes with some reflections on the relationship of abstract political theory such as Shiffrin’s to constitutional law; abstract theory must inevitably make some compromises if it is fully to explain constitutional jurisprudence

What Is the Harm of Hate Speech?

In Jeremy Waldron’s book, The Harm in Hate Speech, it is not always clear whether he argues that hate speech causes harm or whether it constitutes harm. This article considers this uncertainty, concluding that the best understanding of Waldron’s argument is that hate speech tends to cause harm - a weak form of the consequentialist case for its proscription. His argument is not advanced by his apparent reliance on speech-act theory

Regulating for Responsibility: Reputation and Social Media

The framework brought forward by the United Kingdom's Defamation Act 2013 underlines a traditional hierarchy of expression in which news media are viewed as high-level speech. Although of a different form, social media are a dominant means of expression. The current study explores the rationale for a more robust and forceful discussion of responsibility in speech on social media platforms. The underlying premise here is that speech should be viewed as a qualified good and that a more appropriate paradigm is one found in the phrase ‘freedom to participate’

Core-Twisted, Cationic Perylene Diimides:Homochiral Dimerization and Chiroptical Anion Sensing

Core-twisted perylene diimides (PDIs) are chiral organic dyes that may be exploited for self-assembled chiroptical materials or for the enantioselective recognition and sensing of chiral substrates. Discrete self-assembled dimers and host–guest complexes of core-twisted perylene diimides are important for furthering our understanding of this supramolecular chemistry, yet they are rare because the twisted perylene core significantly weakens intermolecular π–π interactions with the PDI's π-surface. To address this challenge, we have installed hydrogen bond donor groups in the PDI's bay positions, which direct the formation of a robust, co-facial and homochiral intermolecular PDI dimer. The structure of this discrete dimer is distinct from previous aggregates of non-planar PDIs that utilize the imide position for hydrogen bonding. We also uncover the potential of core-twisted, dicationic PDIs for the enantioselective recognition and chiroptical sensing of chiral anions and investigate the basis of this response via chiral complementarity in the discrete host–guest complex.</p

“Making voices heard…”: Index on Censorship as Advocacy Journalism

The magazine Index on Censorship has sought, since its launch in 1972, to provide a space where censorship and abuses against freedom of expression have been identified, highlighted and challenged. Originally set up by a collection of writers and intellectuals who were concerned at the levels of state censorship and repression of artists in and under the influence of the Soviet Union and elsewhere, ‘Index’ has provided those championing the values of freedom of expression with a platform for highlighting human rights abuses, curtailment of civil liberties and formal and informal censorship globally. Charting its inception and development between 1971 and 1974, the paper is the first to situate the journal within the specific academic literature on activist media (Janowitz, 1975; Waisbord, 2009; Fisher, 2016). In doing so the paper advances an argument which draws on the drivers and motivations behind the publication’s launch to signal the development of a particular justification or ‘advocacy’ of a left-libertarian civic model of freedom of speech

Quantifying interactions in the active encounter complex of frustrated Lewis pairs

Sustainable catalysts based on main-group elements, such as frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), have emerged as alternatives to precious metal systems. The initial reaction of the Lewis acid, Lewis base and small molecule (e.g. H2) is formally termolecular, but the reaction is rationalised by the pre-association of the acid and base in an encounter complex. Here we show that the charge-transfer band between P(mes)3 and B(C6F5)3 can be analysed by supramolecular UV-vis spectroscopic techniques to provide the key thermodynamic parameter, the association constant (Ka), for the active encounter complex, i.e. the pre-associated complex that is specifically in the correct orientation for small-molecule activation. We also demonstrate that a higher concentration of active encounter complex in solution leads to a faster activation of hydrogen. This method enables researchers to directly probe the complex that underpins FLP small-molecule activation and subsequent catalysis, and will aid the design of more active sustainable catalysts.</p

A Chirally Locked Bis-perylene Diimide Macrocycle: Consequences for Chiral Self-Assembly and Circularly Polarized Luminescence

Macrocycles containing chiral organic dyes are highly valuable for the development of supramolecular circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) materials, where a preorganized chiral framework is conducive to directing π–π self-assembly and delivering a strong and persistent CPL signal. Here, perylene diimides (PDIs) are an excellent choice for the organic dye component because, alongside their tunable photophysical and self-assembly properties, functionalization of the PDI’s core yields a twisted, chiral π-system, capable of CPL. However, configurationally stable PDI-based macrocycles are rare, and those that are also capable of π–π self-assembly beyond dimers are unprecedented, both of which are advantageous for robust self-assembled chiroptical materials. In this work, we report the first bay-connected bis-PDI macrocycle that is configurationally stable (ΔG⧧ > 155 kJ mol–1). We use this chirally locked macrocycle to uncover new knowledge of chiral PDI self-assembly and to perform new quantitative CPL imaging of the resulting single-crystal materials. As such, we discover that the chirality of a 1,7-disubstituted PDI provides a rational route to designing H-, J- and concomitant H- and J-type self-assembled materials, important arrangements for optimizing (chir)optical and charge/energy transport properties. Indeed, we reveal that CPL is amplified in the single crystals of our chiral macrocycle by quantifying the degree of emitted light circular polarization from such materials for the first time using CPL-Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy

Ultrafast and Coherent Dynamics in a Solvent Switchable “Pink Box” Perylene Diimide Dimer

Perylene diimide (PDI) dimers and higher aggregates are key components in organic molecular photonics and photovoltaic devices, supporting singlet fission and symmetry breaking charge separation. Detailed understanding of their excited states is thus important. This has proven challenging because interchromophoric coupling is a strong function of dimer architecture. Recently, a macrocyclic PDI dimer was reported in which excitonic coupling could be turned on and off simply by changing the solvent. This presents a useful case where coupling is modified without synthetic changes to tune supramolecular structure. Here we present a detailed study of solvent dependent excited state dynamics in this dimer by means of coherent multidimensional spectroscopy. Spectral analysis resolves the different coupling strengths, which are consistent with solvent dependent changes in dimer conformation. The strongly coupled conformer forms an excimer within 300 fs. The low‐frequency Raman active modes recovered from two‐dimensional electronic spectra reveal frequencies characteristic of exciton coupling. These are assigned to modes modulating the coupling from the corresponding DFT calculations. Further analysis reveals a time dependent frequency during excimer formation. Analysis of two‐dimensional “beatmaps” reveals features in the coupled dimer which are not predicted by the displaced harmonic oscillator model and are assigned to vibronic coupling