Pell contempt case shows courts must adapt to digital age If the courts just continuing to punish the owners of the printing presses, their frustrations with modern communications technology will just undermine the administration of justice. Jun 6, 2021 – 7.07pm Share In its harshness, the Victorian Supreme Court’s imposition of penalties totalling more than $1.1 million on 14 media outlets – including $160,000 against The Australian Financial Review – that pleaded guilty to contempt of court by breaching the suppression order banning reporting of Cardinal George Pell’s now overturned conviction for historical child sex offences in December 2018 betrays its frustration over the realities of modern communication technology.