Media chiefs unite on press freedom, but will it result in any action?
The heads of News Corp, Nine and ABC talked tough on the need for stronger legal protections for journalists. But unity is meaningless unless it brings meaningful action from the government, argues Swinburne University of Technology’s Colleen Murrell in this crossposting from The Conversation.
In a rare show of unity, the heads of Australia’s biggest news organisations – the ABC, Nine and News Corp – have called for stronger legal protections for press freedom in the wake of this month’s police raids on journalists.
Sharing a panel at the National Press Club in Canberra, the media chiefs outlined several key demands:
- search warrants to be contestable before the arrival of police
- better protection for whistleblowers
- a limitation on the number of documents being marked secret by various government bodies
- a review of freedom of information laws
- an exemption for journalists from being prosecuted under national security laws
News Corp Executive Chariman Michael Miller (left), Nine Chief Executive Officer Hugh Marks (centre) and ABC Managing Director David Anderson (right) stressed unity in their fight for press freedom.
Rohan Thomson/AAP
First to address the lunchtime crowd was the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, who called the fact that he was seated alongside News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller and Nine chief executive Hugh Marks “an unlikely coalition of the willing.”
