George Pell: news organisations fined more than $1m over reporting of sexual abuse verdict

Victoria's supreme court fines the Age $450,000 and News Corp more than $400,000 for contempt of court over coverage of cardinal's initial conviction

The Melbourne newspaper the Age has been fined $450,000 for its coverage of Cardinal George Pell's sexual abuse convictions, the largest individual punishment among more than $1m in fines handed out to major media organisations in a Victorian supreme court ruling on Friday.

Handing down his judgment, Justice John Dixon said the media companies that had previously pleaded guilty to contempt for breaching a suppression order on Pell's now-quashed conviction for child sexual abuse had usurped" the function of the court.