UPDATE: Second Re-Tweeter Pays Up in Lord McAlpine's U.K. Libel Case

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British comic Alan Davies is the latest social mediaite to learn the cost of the dark side of retweeting; in this case, 15,000 pounds ($23,976), according to accounts in The Guardian and the iMediaEthics.org media watchdog Web site.

Davies's resolution with Lord McAlpine follows the settlement last month with retweeter Sally Bercow, the spouse of the U.K. House of Commons Speaker. As reported here (see "TUOL" post 11/26/12), the retired British pol Alistair McAlpine, 71, one-time Conservative Party treasurer and confidant of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, settled a libel suit for roughly a combined $500,000 with the BBC and ITV last November.

Steve Messham, who alleged he was molested as a child, purportedly identified his alleged abuser in a photo whom police incorrectly said was McAlpine. Messham later apologized for the misidentification, but the BBC Newsnight program reported an unnamed North Wales politician was accused of pedophilia and the Twittersphere soon was active with posts suggesting that McAlpine was the abuser.

Davies, whom The Guardian reported has more than 400,000 Twitter followers, last year queried who the "Tory paedophile" was and retweeted a response identifying McAlpine. He was sued for libel by McAlpine despite promptly apologizing on Twitter for his posts. Bercow's 56,000 Tweeter followers allegedly received a post from her asking: "Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*." McAlpine reportedly donated the settlement from Davies to the Royal Chelsea Hospital, according to The Guardian article.

The U.K. does not have the protection that likely would be accorded retweeters in the U.S. by Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which states: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information contact provider."

BBC Cost-Cutting Initiative Shutters 75 News Posts

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Seventy-five news posts will be shut down in a cost-savings move by the British Broadcasting Corp as part of its euphemistically named Delivering Quality First initiative, whose goal is to realize savings of 700 million pound ($1,120,879,665), The Guardian reported.

The DQF proposal was unveiled in 2011 (See "TUOL" posts 1/24/11, & 10/7/11) and has caused the BBC (Brits Be Cuttin') to butt heads with the National Union of Journalists, in that the plan calls for shrinking BBC News' workforce by 600 by the 2016-17 financial year, according to The Guardian article.  Over the next year, 17 newsgathering slots are expected to be eliminated, including the Moscow Bureau Editor.

BBC & Current Affairs employ more than 8,000, according to the article.

Gray Lady Reaches Across the Pond & Medium for New CEO

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)After an eight-month search, The New York Times has tapped 55-year-old Mark Thompson, BBC Worldwide's Director General since 2004, to be its new CEO, the paper announced today.

In a letter to staffers, Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. acknowledged in the newspaper's selection of broadcasting executive Thompson, who has presided over the BBC's global and digital expansion: "Our future is on to video, to social to mobile. It doesn't mirror what we've done. It broadens what we are going to do."

Thompson will join the Times in November and take a seat on the paper's board of directors. The Gray Lady has not had a CEO since December 2011, when Janet Robinson was ungently pushed out the door after butting heads with company executives. The Times last month reported an $88 million net loss for the Second Quarter of 2012 compared to a year ago, but, on the bright side, noted a jump in digital subscriptions to more than 509,000.

Thompson, a graduate of Merton College at University of Oxford, joined the BBC in 1979 as a production trainee and had become its director of television by 2000.

UPDATE: English High Court Scraps Much of Tesla's Top Gear Libel Suit

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Queen's Bench Division of England's High Court today sent to the legal junkyard a significant portion of an automaker's libel suit against BBC's Top Gear program based on a December 14, 2008, episode that depicted the car manufacturer's vehicle faring poorly in a number of performance tests.

According to an article in The Guardian, Mr. Justice Tugendhat found that reasonable viewers of Top Gear would not compare the shaky performance of Tesla Motors' electric car on the program's airfield track to its actual performance on a public road. The court will continue to hear Tesla's allegations that the defendant made five defamatory false statements about the Tesla Roadster.

The case, Tesla Motors Ltd. et al.  v. BBC (Claim No. HQ11D01162) [see "TUOL" post 3/30/11], centered around Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson's contention that the Roadster ran out of battery after 55 miles driving around the show's track, far short of the car maker's 200-mile endurance claim. The Guardian article quoted Mr. Justice Tugendhat verbal opinion: "In my judgment, the words complained of are wholly incapable of conveying any meaning at all to the effect that the claimant [Tesla] misled anyone. This is because there is a contrast between the style of driving and the nature of the track as compared with the conditions on a public road."

Electric Carmaker Charges BBC with Libel & Malicious Falsehood

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeIn Tesla Motors, Ltd. et al. v. BBC (Claim No. HQ11D01162), filed in the Queen's Bench Division of England's High Court of Justice this week, the maker of the electric Tesla Roadster sued popular program Top Gear for defamation and malicious falsehood over a Dec. 14, 2008, episode in which the vehicle allegedly didn't fare well in a series of tests.

As reported by Websites www.CrunchGear.com and www.gigaom.com and the carmaker's own Website, Tesla's 13-page Complaint specifically targets Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, along with executive producer Andrew Wilman and researcher Gavin Whitehead.  According to the Complaint, the defendant allegedly misrepresented the capabilities of the Roadster, including purportedly stating the vehicle had a 55-mile battery range, rather than the plaintiff's claimed 200-mile range; that Top Gear falsely claimed the brakes on a particular Roadster were broken; and that another tested vehicle alleged overheated, which the plaintiff denies. Tesla also claims footage showing a  Roadster being pushed into a hangar because it's power allegedly was drained also was untrue and actionable.

Clearly, the electric carmaker didn't get the kind of plug it was looking for from the BBC.

Hearst Thumbs Through, But Doesn't Buy BBC Periodicals

Image via WikipediaWith the New York-based Hearst Corp. ready to open its wallet to pay cash for international magazines from French publisher Lagardere (see "TUOL" post 1/3/11), apparently its National Magazine Co. is turning the page on acquiring BBC Magazines, according to a report in Media Week.

Hearst Magazines International, which boasts ownership of more than 200 magazines in more than 100 nations, will not be adding  Top Gear, Radio Times, Good Food, Gardeners Times or any other BBC periodical to its stable. German publishing conglomerate Bauer is expected to step in to favored prospective buyer role abandoned by Hearst.

Twits Can Tweet in English High Court

Image via WikipediaMicroblogging, Email and live-tweeting are permissible in courtrooms with some exceptions, England's Supreme Court has ruled, according to The Guardian.

The policy is less a case of the U.K. Supreme Court being plugged-in, than it is the justices not being concerned about the outside world learning about courtroom doings that do not interfere with witnesses or jurors. The appeal involving Wikileaks founder Julian Assange last December was the first instance in which the high court permitted live-tweeting of the proceedings.

Live tweeting will not be allowed in certain family law matters, among other exceptions.

Twits & Tweets

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The BBC has drafted revised editorial guidelines for its journalists, tightening the reins on their use of naughty language and abusive behavior when blogging and on air.

Although the BBC reviews its policies every five years, releasing the standards to the general public is unusual. Among  the latest pronouncements is that BBC journalists and presenters should not include in blog postings any content that they would not be willing or able to repeat on the air.

The proposed guidelines also challenge the use of profanity, suggesting that "bleeping out" may occur even if the naughty language is uttered after the so-called "watershed" hour of 9 p.m. In recent months, things have gotten a bit randy over at the BBC, with one popular broadcaster, Jonathan Ross, telling actress Gwyneth Paltrow during an interview that he would make love to her, though using much coarser language than "TUOL," which suggests that perhaps more than his British upper lip was stiff.