Inquiry could cover protections for privacy and the role of the print media's self-regulatory watchdog
- guardian.co.uk,
- Article history
- AAP
- September 14, 2011
Australia's prime minister, Julia
Gillard, threatened to sue the Australian newspaper last month.
Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters
Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters
The Australian government has promised an inquiry into the
country's media as politicians complain that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp
owns too many newspapers.
Calls have been growing for an Australian inquiry into News Corp since the New York-based company closed the News of the World in July over phone-hacking allegations. News Corp owns 70% of Australia's newspapers.
The
communications minister, Stephen Conroy, told colleagues in his ruling
centre-left Labor party on Tuesday that there would be an inquiry into
the Australian media. He said the terms of reference were under
discussion with the Greens party that supports Labor's minority
government. But Conroy said the inquiry would not be "an attack on
News Ltd", the Australian subsidiary of News Corp. He said the inquiry
could cover areas including protections for privacy and the role of the
print media's self-regulatory watchdog, Australian Press Council. Conroy
said the government disagreed with a motion to be proposed by the
Greens leader, Bob Brown, in the Senate on Thursday. That motion would
call on Conroy to "investigate the direct or indirect ramifications for
Australia of the criminal matters affecting" News Corp's British
subsidiary, News International. There have been no allegations made in Australia of the type of phone hacking that has led to at least 16 arrests in Britain.
Labor
politicians have long complained that News Ltd publications are biased
towards Liberal party conservatives and that the company has too much
control over Australian newspapers. They blame the media for their party plumbing record lows in opinion polls four years after Labor first came to government. The
Liberal leader, Tony Abbott, dismissed the need for a media inquiry,
saying there was no evidence of any new problems in the industry. "This
looks like a naked attempt to intimidate the media," Abbott said.
The
prime minister, Julia Gillard, has had an increasingly testy
relationship with News Ltd publications and its executives. The
Australian newspaper withdrew an opinion piece from its website and
published an apology last month after Gillard threatened to sue over an
incorrect claim that she had once shared a house with a corrupt union
official that had been paid for with embezzled union money. Gillard
attacked the News Ltd broadsheet, saying no one had contacted her for
comment before publishing "a false report in breach of all known
standards of journalism". "This is a question of ethics and standards
for the Australian," she said. John Hartigan, chairman and chief
executive of News Ltd, described Gillard's comments as "pedantic" and
"disappointing", and said it was accepted practice not to seek comment
for opinion pieces.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/media-groups-warn-on-government-regulation/story-e6frf7jx-1226137264538
Media groups warn on government regulation
MAJOR news groups have warned against government regulation of print and online media, as Labor launched the first big inquiry into the sector in two decades and flagged the possibility of a single body to deal with complaints.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy today announced the independent inquiry, which was sparked by government and Greens MP concerns about the blurring of news and opinion in Australian political coverage, and privacy issues raised by the News of the World phone hacking scandal in the UK. But the minister said the aim of the inquiry - which won't have the power to compel witnesses - was not to provide a forum for politicians to attack the media. "The government is not interested in attacking any one media organisation or in seeking to reduce the necessary scrutiny of the political process that is at the heart of a functioning democratic media," he said.
John Hartigan, the chairman and chief executive of News Limited, which controls 70 per cent of Australia's print media and whose newspapers have been accused of bias by some MPs including Senator Conroy, said the way the inquiry had been set up was "regrettable".
"This inquiry started life as a witch-hunt by the Greens and has morphed into a fairly narrow look at a mixed bag of issues ostensibly focussed on print journalism," he said in a statement. "Any substantive inquiry into the media should cover all media and all media equally, particularly if it intends to investigate the need for a new overarching regulatory system."
Currently, the electronic media is regulated by a statutory body, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the print media is covered by an independent industry-funded body, the Australian Press Council (APC). Senator Conroy said the APC was widely seen as a "toothless tiger" in a world of 24-hour news cycles and converging media platforms. "I don't think any editor and any of you quake in your boots about a complaint to the Press Council," Senator Conroy told reporters in Canberra.
He said the idea of a single regulator - overseeing complaints about all media from print to television and the internet - was "a legitimate question in the converged world".
APC chairman Professor Julian Disney, who took over the role 18 months ago, told AAP that council's staffing needed to be bolstered if it was going to have more bite. "It's not toothless, but it doesn't have enough teeth and it's also been too timid in using the powers that we have." At the moment, the council has four staff members. Prof Disney told AAP that he wants at least eight, so they could undertake systemic monitoring on issues such as the use of fair and accurate headlines. "That kind of system monitoring is something we really want to strengthen but that's not easy and it's actually impossible unless you have better resources that we have now," he said. "Our concern is not so much for the future of the press council, it's for the future of a strong effective model."
Greens leader Bob Brown said while he did not think media firms should be forced to divest their interests, he hoped the inquiry would find other ways to improve the number of voices in the Australian media and flagged his support for a single regulator. "Surely that seems to be one good option that inquiry might assess," he said. Fairfax Media and Australian Associated Press (AAP) cautiously welcomed the inquiry and pledged their participation, but warned against government regulation of the press. "Fairfax Media will be an active participant in the inquiry, championing the importance of independent journalism the likes of which are best able to flourish in a less regulated environment," CEO Greg Hywood said in a statement.
AAP CEO Bruce Davidson said it was vital the print media remained independent and free from any regulation that would impede its role in a democratic society. "I trust that this inquiry would rightly reject such a notion, and AAP certainly will be pressing that point in any submission to the inquiry," he said. Opposition communications spokesman and former journalist Malcolm Turnbull dismissed the inquiry, to be headed by former Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein and assisted by journalism academic Dr Matthew Ricketson. "This is just a political stunt by a government that is bitter about being criticised by the media, in particular by News Limited," Mr Turnbull said. The inquiry will also look at the effectiveness of media codes of practice and the impact of technological change on the media business model. But Mr Turnbull said its four terms of reference could easily be covered by the government's ongoing convergence review. Australians should be suspicious of more regulation placed on the media, he said.
The inquiry will report to the government by February 28, 2012.
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