Financial Times decides not to contest injunction

The Financial Times has decided not to contest an injunction from a judge that prevented the business newspaper from publishing information about a struggling bank that it had received.

Rachael Gallagher of The Press Gazette in London wrote, “Last Tuesday, a temporary seven-day injunction was put in place preventing publication of information in a Briefing Memorandum being distributed to potential investors, after more than 10 pages of it were published on a Financial Times website.

“Paul Murphy, editor of Alphaville at the FT, told Press Gazette that in a court hearing this morning the decision was made not to contest the injunction.

“He said: ‘Because of what has happened to Northern Rock and because the way the original story has helped fuel a huge political debate around Northern Rock, we said we’re not going to contest the injunction.

“‘We don’t see any benefit in terms of printing new information on something which is now completely historical. All the bids have come in for Northern Rock and there’s also been a boardroom clear out, so the story has moved on.'”

Read more here.