Nicholas Olson

Nine-owned Fairfax Media has been ordered to pay a $545,000 to a Papua New Guinea politician who sued the publisher for defamation over a series of articles published in the Australian Financial Review, which a judge found were “replete with errors and misrepresentations.”

From the ongoing saga of the high-profile Christian Porter action against the ABC to “backyard” litigation testing the serious harm bar, defamation cases made headlines in 2022, with winners and losers alike shelling out millions to lawyers to protect their reputations.

In one of the first cases to test a new ‘serious harm’ threshold for defamation matters, a judge has knocked back a NSW house painter’s defamation case over a one star Google review, saying that people would consider “unflattering” business reviews to be expressions of personal opinion. 

Nine has mostly lost its bid to shield documents produced under subpoena in a defamation case brought over A Current Affair’s coverage of barrister Gina Edwards’ custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle.

A Sydney barrister was embarrassed and afraid to return to chambers following Channel Nine’s allegedly defamatory coverage of her custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle, a court has heard.

A judge has rejected barrister Gina Edwards’ “somewhat speculative” bid to issue interrogatories to Nine, weeks out from trial in a defamation case brought over the media company’s coverage of her custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle.

A judge has questioned Nine’s eleventh-hour bid to add allegations of “serious criminal offences” against a barrister who sued the media company over its coverage of her custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle.

Pauline Hanson has appealed a defamation judgment ordering her to pay $250,000 to former colleague Brian Burston for “seriously damaging” and malicious comments made in a Today Show interview.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been ordered to pay former colleague Brian Burston $250,000 for “seriously damaging” and malicious comments made in a Today Show interview.

A judge has found that a 60 Minutes broadcast by Nine, but not a related article, carried defamatory meanings about Euro Pacific Bank boss Peter Schiff, saying the broadcast’s  use of ominous music and shadowy figures invited judgment from viewers.