News in brief - August 1994

1993 Australian Press Council Prize

The judges, Adrian Deamer, Prof Clem Lloyd and Roy Theodore, have now read all the entries and determined a winner:

Freya Carkeek, of Glen Waverley in Victoria, for the thesis, "Vicious But Vital Voices: Freedom of Expression and Racial Vilification Legislation in Australia".

More details will be published next issue.

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1994 Australian Press Council Prize

The Council announces the terms of entry for its 1994 award. In its first four years the Prize has generally been awarded for the best thesis by a tertiary student on a subject related to the objects of the Press Council.

In 1994, however, the Prize will be awarded for the best essay submitted on a set topic and secondary students will be eligible to enter.

The topic is:

The freedom of the press and its responsibility

Entries are invited in two categories:

(1) Tertiary students, who will have a 2,500 word limit; and

(2) Secondary students, with a 1,500 word limit.

Winners in each category will be selected by a panel of judges and the prizes of up to $1,000 will be awarded in each category.

The final date for receipt of submissions is 1 March 1995.

The Australian Press Council reserves the right not to award a prize/s.

INQUIRIES: The Executive Secretary
The Australian Press Council
303/149 Castlereagh Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Tel: (02) 261 1930
(008) 02 5712
Fax: (02) 267 6826

For more on the Prize,
see the Prize index page.

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On the Council

The Council has appointed a new Public Member and a new Public Member Alternate. Jack Ensor from Perth is the new full member and David Cotton, from Brisbane, is the new alternate.

Jack Ensor has recently retired after thirty years as a teacher with the WA Department of Education. His service included a nine year secondment to the National Fitness Council, during which time he served as Camp Schools Officer. Before his teaching career, he worked for three years on a station in the Pilbara. Jack has also been involved as a coach and selector of teams playing in the WAFL. He now works through various organisations in the community.

David Cotton is a self-employed chartered accountant, with working experience in Australia, the US and the UK. He is state treasurer of the Insurance Institute of Queensland and maintains strong community links through his membership of the Apex Club of Jindalee. Currently he is the National Treasurer of the Association of Apex Clubs of Australia. David graduated as an MBA from Bond University in 1990.

Michael Smith, who had represented the John Fairfax Group on the Council, and his alternate, Catherine Rich, have left that company and, consequently have resigned their positions on the Council. The new representative of the Group is Ian Hicks, the Assistant Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Hicks is also the Literary Editor of the newspaper. His alternate is Milton Cockburn, who edits the editorial page of The Sydney Morning Herald and was, until recently, the Editor of the Herald.

For the current membership list,
see the Members index page.

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Mt. Gambier Visit

The Press Council's next interstate meeting will be to the South Australian provincial city Mt. Gambier on 24 and 25 November.

In conjunction with the meeting, the Council is organising a Public Meeting on the evening of Thursday 24 November to discuss "The Role and Responsibility of Country Newspapers". Anyone interested in attending this meeting can contact the Press Council office which will have details on a confirmed time and speakers by mid-September.

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Articles

In recent times the Australian Press Council has been invited to submit articles on a variety of subjects related to the objects of the Council. Among those that have been published or are set for publication are:

• an article, "Multiculturalism and the Press", in the magazine, Without Prejudice, April 1994. Without Prejudice is produced by the Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs;
   
• an article on Press Freedom for publication in the Sydney Daily Telegraph-Mirror on International Press Freedom Day (3 May);
   
• a chapter on "Media Self-Regulation" for a book, Freedom of Communication, due for publication in late 1994, has been submitted by the Chairman and has been accepted;
   
• an article, "Freedom of Expression", for the magazine Policy produced by the Centre for Independent Studies for its Winter issue; and
   
• an article on US and Australian defamation law in Communications Law Bulletin for the Communications and Media Law Association.

Copies of the articles are available on request from the Press Council office.

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Speeches

The Australian Press Council has been represented recently at three diverse public forums:

• on 27 June the Chairman spoke to journalists and students at the Dr Soetomo Institute in Jakarta (an Indonesian body involved in questions of press ethics and with the training of journalists) on "Press Freedom, Press Law and Responsibility";
   
• Prof Flint and Adrian Deamer discussed Australian defamation law at a conference, Communications and Diversity, in Sydney on 12 July, as reported on the front page of this issue; and
   
• Prof Flint addressed the question of "Public Figures and Private Lives" at a seminar, Fractured Images: Media Ethics and Accountability in the 1990s, organised by the University of Tasmania and held in Hobart on 23 July.

While in Jakarta the Chairman also worked through several case studies with the Indonesian journalists and student journalists in attendance; and, in both Jakarta and Hobart, he had participants complete a version of the Press Council questionnaire, similar to that one reported on in the May 1994 issue of the News. Results from these surveys are referred to in the Chairman's column.

Copies of most of the speeches are available on request from the Press Council office.

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An Ethical and Quality Audit of the Press

As noted in the May issue of the News, the Council is now undertaking an ethical and quality audit of the Australian press.

The audit is based on the Council's first object: "To maintain the character of the Australian press in accordance with the highest journalistic standards and to preserve its established freedom". These concepts - quality, responsibility and freedom - are intrinsically linked. They cannot be divided.

The features of the audit are:

• evaluating complaints against the press and how they are currently processed by the Council;
   
• surveying previous complainants (which would involve a further assessment of the Council's processes); and
   
• surveying professional and public attitudes to ethical issues through a series of Council-organised public meetings and a series of case studies seminars.

The Council has written to a large number of newspapers and schools of journalism to ascertain their interest in sponsoring or hosting a case studies seminar and intends to draw up a schedule for such seminars in the next few weeks. Some will be aimed solely at media professionals, others at journalism students, while some will be available to members of the public. The latter will be promoted through the local press in time for those interested to apply.

Anyone interested in attending a case studies seminar, during which the Council's adjudication process is simulated, can contact the Press Council office. When one is organised in their locality, the office will inform them of the date and time.

The Council's survey of past complainants is now being prepared and will be mailed in the next month or so. At the same time, the Council will survey editors against whose publications complaints have been made. The results of these surveys will help the Council in its review of its complaints procedure.

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