General Press Release No. 263 (March 2005)

Annual Address 2005: The courts and the media

Media commentator Richard Ackland will deliver the third Press Council Address at a media lunch on Thursday 31 March 2005. Titled "Dripping with venomous insinuation." Richard Ackland's memoir on the media and the law, the Address will look at the vexed relationship between judges and journalists and why they seem to have difficulties understanding each other

Justice Ron Sackville, the Chairman of the Judicial Conference of Australia (JCA), will respond to the Address and lead the question/discussion period to follow.

Mr Ackland, whose background in both the law and in journalism gives him a solid base from which to comment, will also look at media law and suggest some ways that the law's dealings with the media may be improved.

The main thrust of the talk will be the relationship between the media and the judiciary. Among the issues which Mr Ackland's Address will raise are:

• The tension in the Judiciary that sees it want to engage the public on crucial issues that directly concern its functions and wellbeing - independence, superannuation, sentencing, ethical behaviour, respect, etc - at the same time as it tries maintain its dignity through a serene distance.
   
• Maintenance of the 'mystique' of the courts when the modern media see courts and judges as just another instrument of government and "fair game" - witness the coverage on the Jeff Shaw case, judges' holidays and court productivity, tax return slowness, drunkenness and the judiciary, the Lebanese rape appeals, extra curricula activities, etc.
   
• The ways judges are groping to deal with this avalanche, such as the JCA-commissioned public relations consultants seeking to devise a communications strategy on how to handle the media, and how "lame" that response has been.
   
• Some examples where media resentment/agitation/dismay has been inflamed by the courts: judges trying to "manage" the way the courts are reported, the latest proposals about regulation of the internet to remove potentially prejudicial material, the inadequate way suppression orders are notified to the media, judicial officers suing media outlets for defamation (successfully). The judges are keen to protect their patch. The media is keen to trespass upon it.

The 2005 Annual Address will be delivered at a two-course lunch, hosted by the Council, at the Swissotel, Market Street, Sydney, at 1230 for 1pm. The lunch will be open to members of the public. The cost of the lunch will be $65/head; with tables of 8 available at $500. It is expected that proceedings will be finished by 2.30 pm.

see also
Annual Address overview.
Richard Ackland's Address

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