Media / Talk of the Trade: Judging system courts disaster

FOR the media, one of the most worrying aspects of the row over Central's Murder in Mind was that the High Court previewed the programme before it was broadcast. Should the courts really become involved in this way?

This development is a direct consequence of the Broadcasting Act, which removed the Independent Television Commission's right to judge controversial programmes before transmission. The most famous attempt at government intervention, in Death on the Rock in 1988, was stymied when the then Independent Broadcasting Authority let Thames screen it. The ITC is deeply concerned about last week's precedent, with good reason.