"How are you deciding what needs to be kept secret?"

The Future of Journalism - Are We Under Attack? 

In this week’s tutorial Christina spoke about the recent AFP raids on ABC’s senior investigative reporters Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, as well as the news director, Gaven Morris. 

The AFP raided the Sydney office, searching through thousands of files that supported a 2017 story produced by Sam Clark and Dan Oakes called The Afghan Files. These files included evidence of Australia’s special forces troops conducting illegal and unlawful behaviour in Afghanistan.The documents were leaked by former defence lawyer, David McBride, who is now facing charges.

This came just 24 hours after AFP’s raid on News Corp journalist, Annika Smethurst, for a 2018 story about intelligence agencies and their ability to spy on Australians. The raids caused outrage amongst media companies internationally, questioning Australia’s press freedom and democracy. 

Interview with Annika Smethurst regarding the AFP raids.

Journalism Is Not A Crime!

Journalists gathered in an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, calling for legislation to “recognise and enshrine a positive public interest protection for whistle-blowers and for journalists”.
The raids have journalists, their sources and even us journalism students questioning the future of journalism in Australia. 

Australia currently “does not have clear protection for freedom of press or freedom of speech in media, and we remain the only democratic nation without constitutional or statutory protection of human rights at the national level” – The Lowy Institute

In contrast, New Zealand’s journalistic sources are treated as privileged information. The UK have a public interest test before journalistic information can be detained. The USA’s Amendments and Constitution declare that newsroom raids are unlawful, and in Canada journalistic documents seized by police are kept in the custody of the court, where journalists can make submissions to retrieve the documents. 

Looking at the protection laws and human rights in other countries, it is obvious that Australia needs security laws changed to protect press freedom. Without it, what happens to journalists and whistle-blowers? Will they be criminalised for distributing what is in the public’s interest to know?

As Christina said in her seminar, “How are you deciding what needs to be kept secret and what people need to know?”


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Future of Public Interest Journalism

Image
As discussed in earlier entries, the recent AFP raids on journalists put investigative and public interest journalism at serious risk.  The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) sees public interest as the freedom of the media to investigate, and inform and comment on matters of public concern and importance. ALRC does not put a singular definition on public interest, instead creating a list of public interest matters, providing parties and the court with useful guidance. The list, including what I have just mentioned above, also includes Freedom of expression, including political communication The proper administration of government Open justice Public health and safety National security The prevention and detection of crime and fraud The economic wellbeing of the country All these factors contribute in assisting courts and parties into making appropriate cause of action, hopefully reducing litigation.  We have seen public interest journalism in ...
Read more

Week 11 Already?!

Image
Week 11 crept up without a warning. As all the deadlines approach, I am slowly becoming more and more stressed, trying to figure out a healthy balance between four subjects and working 30+ hours a week. Despite my struggles, I know the assessments need to be done no matter what. University is my priority, so I find myself knocking back extra shifts at work when they need me (sorry boss).  As a second year student doing a third year subject, I started off the course already intimidated by that fact. However, I forced myself to find the confidence to quickly get over it so I wasn’t hindered when it came to the work.  sleepsmarter.com When talks of the major assignment started, I had nothing. I didn’t have a clue what to do a story on. When I thought I had come up with a somewhat good idea, I re-read the assessment brief and realised it had to relate to the course topics we had covered throughout the semester. So there I was, back at square one.  I was so ...
Read more

The White Guy Isn't a "Deranged Loner".. He's a Terrorist

Image
We’ve come a long way with equality regarding race in the media, and rightly so, it’s 2019! We, as a society, are more inclusive, with some participating in cultural celebrations nationally such as Ramadan. So how is race portrayed in Australian media, and how does this influence our society? Around one in five Australians have been verbally abused due to their race, experiencing racial slurs and name calling. More than one in 20 Australians have been physically attacked because of their race. But its not just race that’s targeted in the media, and in society. Its religion as well. Muslim’s often experience a lot of backlash due to their portrayal in the media, factual or otherwise.  I grew up without a religious background. I never really swayed one way or the other, and whenever I was questioned on my beliefs I would say “I believe in something, I just don’t know what”. However, Australia’s major religion is Christianity, accounting for 52% of the population according ...
Read more