Laurie Oakes – Complacent media needs to fight harder against threats to press freedom

Tim Burrowes

September 28, 2015 3:15

Laurie Oakes

Nine’s veteran political editor Laurie Oakes has warned the Australian media that it has become complacent in fighting threats to press freedom.

Speaking at Melbourne’s first Press Freedom Dinner, organised by the Walkley Foundation, Oakes warned that the media had slipped up by allowing new national security laws to get onto the statute books without fighting harder against provisions which threaten open reporting. He also criticised media companies, including News Corp, for scoring points against competitors rather than uniting to fight the threat.

FullSizeRender (20)

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.