Guilty!

In her lecture this yesterday, Gillian Phillips, Head of Litigation at Times Newspapers Ltd., pointed out that media law was the only area of UK law in which the defendent (a journalist or publication sued for libel or defamation) is presumed guilty until they prove themselves innocent.

I wonder if this is somehow a telling reflection of Charles Reiss' (former political editor of the Evening Standard) assertion of last week's lecture that journalists are amongst the least publicly-trusted professionals in Britain?