General Press Release No. 225 (November 1998)

Canberra Public Forum:
The Reporting of National Politics

The sole remaining Independent member of the House of Representatives, Peter Andren, will now be one of the featured speakers at an Australian Press Council public forum in Canberra on the press's coverage of national politics.

Mr Andren, a former television news journalist and news director, will be joined by the recently retired Speaker of the House, Ian Sinclair, and the editor of the Canberra Times, Jack Waterford, at the public forum on Thursday 26 November, from 6 pm, at the National Press Club. The forum is open to the public and admission is free.

The issues to be discussed by the forum include whether there is a "pack mentality" among the Canberra Press Gallery; whether the media agenda is set by some "politically correct elite"; and whether the bush is treated fairly by a city-biased media.

The forum will be led by three speakers who can throw light on the subject:

• Ian Sinclair is a former Leader of the National Party and was, for 35 years, the member for New England in the House of Representatives;
  
  
• Peter Andren - a former television news journalist and news director who now represents the seat of Calare in the House of Representatives; and
  
  
• Jack Waterford - the editor of the Canberra Times.

The forum will be chaired by Professor Dennis Pearce, the Chairman of the Australian Press Council. Professor Pearce, who has chaired the Council since November 1997, is an Emeritus Professor of Law at ANU.

There is provision for an open question and discussion time after the speakers and this part of the forum can lead to detailed debate about the ethical and other issues involved in the topic.

It is expected that the forum will last about 2 hours.

During the forum, Professor Pearce will also present the 1997-98 Australian Press Council Essay Prizes to the winners:

• Julian Donnan, the tertiary students section winner, who grew up and went to school in Wagga Wagga, NSW. In 1994 he commenced an undergraduate degree in Arts (Asian Studies) and Law at the Australian National University, Canberra. He is currently in his final year and, upon graduation, intends to travel to Europe and North America.
  
  
• Eunice Liu, the secondary schools' section winner, is 16 and is currently completing Year 10 at Ravenswood School for Girls. She was born in Taipei, Taiwan and migrated to Australia, with her family in 1989. In addition to finishing her School Certificate, she has been accelerated in Math and is sitting for her 3U Math Higher School Certificate this year.

The Press Council

The Press Council, the self-regulatory body of the print media, deals with complaints from the public about the ethical behaviour of publications as well as promoting debate and discussion of matters of interest to the press. Its Council meetings are usually held in Sydney but at least twice a year it visits other metropolitan and regional centres. Its November meeting is being held in Canberra on Friday 27 November, preceded by meetings of its Complaints Committee and Freedom of the Press Committee on 26 November.

The Council, which is composed of representatives of the publishers, of journalists and editors and of interested members of the public, has as its first order of business at each meeting those complaints which have been referred to it for adjudication. About 20 per cent of complaints reach this stage. The rest are settled in some other way: some are mediated to the satisfaction of both parties; in some cases complainants are satisfied by the response to the complaint made by the publication; others do not follow up their complaint with the submission of material asked for; in some cases, the matter is withdrawn for legal action; and some are refused as inappropriate or referred to another organisation. After it has adjudicated the complaints before it, the Council deals with any other relevant business: in addition to handling complaints, the Council plays a role in the maintenance of the standards of the press and makes representations on matters relevant to the preservation of freedom of expression and of the press.

This is the Council's second meeting in Canberra. The earlier one was held in 1991.

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