General Press Release No. 231 (June 1999)

Oceania Regional Conference of the WAPC

Delegates from the Asia-Pacific area and from Press Councils around the world will gather in Brisbane next week for a conference to discuss issues relating to the role and the responsibility of the press.

Hosted by the Australian Press Council, the first Oceania Regional Conference of the World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) will convene on 22 and 23 June 1999. The conference is being held at the historic Customs House on the Brisbane River.

The Conference will be a two-day event bringing together members of Press Councils and similar bodies, media professionals and academics from within Australia and overseas to canvass matters of relevance to the question of the responsibility of the press in a free society.

The two main themes of the conference are:

• the role and responsibility of the media in its coverage of tragedies and of communal conflicts; and
  
  
• the ethical responsibilities of the media in their dealings with courts and their coverage of the criminal justice system.

The conference will also discuss the future directions of the WAPC and look closely at the major concerns of the media in the smaller south Pacific nations.

The conference will be opened by the Premier, Peter Beattie, and Professor John Henningham, Professor of Journalism at the University of Queensland, will deliver the keynote speech on the place of newspapers in the emerging media scene. Prof Henningham will argue:

At millennium's turn, we must concede that the glory days of the press are in the past: we may look nostalgically upon the twentieth century as the century of the newspaper. The dizzying growth of technological change, coupled with rapidly shifting consumer tastes and lifestyles, challenge the press's viability and role. Obviously the press in its virtual form will play a part in the twenty-first century's converged media landscape, but it must ensure that its unique contribution to knowledge - the written word - is not lost in the kaleidoscope of video clips and sound grabs. Most importantly, we need to ensure the centrality of journalism and its essential role of providing independent sources of information, analysis and commentary to the people.

Other sessions on the first day will include

• The reporting of conflicts, eg civil, religious, ethnic, which will feature Whai Ngata, General Manager, Maori Programs, Television New Zealand; Francis Lee, head of Cantonese Group for the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and Chairman of the Asian Media Council of Australia; and Peter Cole-Adams, Foreign Affairs and Defence correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Ngata will look particularly at the reporting of conflicts involving indigenous people; Mr Lee will highlight some of the difficulties in reporting multicultural issues and reporting on ethnic communities; and Mr Cole-Adams will deal with questions of the reporting of open conflicts, including wars and insurrections.
  
  These speeches will be followed by a series of small group discussions on the issues arising.
  
  
• The reporting of private tragedy and grief will feature, among others, Miranda Devine, columnist for the Daily Telegraph, Sydney and will discuss whether there are limits which need to be placed on the reporting of matters which might interfere with the privacy of individuals. Ms Devine will argue that

  Australians have an unhealthy obsession with privacy ... particularly other people's privacy!
  
  But when you actually interview survivors of a tragedy or a victim's bereaved relatives, you find they want to talk. In such tragedies as the Thredbo landslide, the Port Arthur massacre, or the murder of an 18-year-old pizza delivery boy, those closest to the victims wanted to memorialise their loved ones. It is a natural human urge. Why else would there be death notices or obituaries or even tombstones?
  
  Provided journalists are sensitive and respectful and report accurately what the family tells them there is no harm and, in fact, great good can come from such stories.

• Research Activities, wherein a number of university researchers will discuss the progress of their current research. Topics covered include technologies used by media in developing countries; the use of parliamentary proceedings in television news; the reporting of One Nation; newsroom training in the South pacific; coverage of HIV/AIDS in the south Pacific; and political cartoonists.

On the second day, 23 June, the main emphasis will be on the courts and the media. The speakers will include Dato Param Curamaswamy, the UN Special Rapporteur on Judicial Independence; Justice Susan Kiefel of the Federal Court; and David Solomon, the contributing Editor of The Courier-Mail, whose latest book, The Political High Court, will be published next month.

Dato Cumaraswamy will argue that contempt powers should only be used very sparingly and in the most exceptional situations to prevent administration of justice being thwarted bearing in mind that the judiciary too is accountable and not beyond criticism. He decries the use of the judicial process in some countries to stifle free speech. He will conclude by observing that while human rights are universal, interdependent and indivisible yet it is an independent and impartial judiciary which can protect all of these rights.

Justice Kiefel will consider the present reality of the relationship between the media and the courts and their perception of each other. She asks whether the Courts should accommodate the needs of the media further; what the media wants from the Courts; and whether the media requires a better understanding of the Courts as institutions.

David Solomon will look primarily at the inhibitions and restrictions facing journalists reporting the courts in Australia, including such issues as contempt of court. He will raise such matters as the responsibility of the press to the courts, and their quite separate responsibility to report news and views to readers, and also discuss ways in which courts help or hinder the reporting of their activities.

The speeches will be followed by a series of small group discussions on the issues arising.

Other sessions on the second day will look at

• The future directions of the WAPC, a discussion which will feature the president of the association Justice PB Sawant of India and the South African Press Ombudsman, Ed Linington, who will argue that the WAPC promote a free and independent press and broadcasting in emerging countries as a means of establishing and maintaining free and democratic societies. He sees the establishment of Press Councils independent of government as one means of achieving this goal.
  
  
• Developments in the media in the Oceania Region. In addition to David Robie, the 1999 Press Council Fellow and co-ordinator of journalism programs at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji, representatives of the Oceania Region will also include Daryl Tarte, Chair of the Fiji Press Council; Kalafi Moala, editor of Taimi o Tonga; Luke Sela, Chair of the Papua New Guinea Media Council; and Salo Malifa, publisher of the Samoa Independent.

The conference is open to all and a registration fee is payable. Information on the conference is available from the Press Council (02) 9261 1930 or interested parties can register at Customs House on either morning of the conference.

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