News in brief - February 1994

1993 Australian Press Council Prize

The Press Council is holding its Prize competition again in 1993. A prize of $2000 will be awarded for the best research paper of 10,000 words or more on a topic or topics related to the objects of the Press Council. These objects include the maintenance of the character of the Australian press in accordance with the highest journalistic standards; the review of developments likely to restrict the flow of information to the public; and the making of representations to appropriate authorities concerning the freedom of the press.

Entries must include an abstract of the paper and be accompanied by an entry form, which is available from the Council's office [Suite 303, 149 Castelreagh Street, Sydney 2000. Phone 261 1930 or 1800 025 712.]

Entries will be received up to 1 March 1994 and will be submitted to a panel of judges which will determine the winner.

For more detail on the APC Essay Prize,
see the Prize index page

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Submissions

The Council has made two submissions since the November issue of the APC News:

• In a response to a discussion paper on defamation law reform released by the NSW Law Reform Commission, the Council has reinforced its earlier submissions on law reform in this area by stressing the need for greater pre-trial mediation and the use of alternate dispute resolution techniques. It also calls for a public figure defence based on American and European precedents.
  
  The Commission had posed a series of questions in its discussion paper and the Council's submission responded to those questions, referring to the Council's previous submissions on the same subject.
   
• The Council made a brief submission to the Senate Select Committee established as a result of revelations about his discussions with political leaders by Conrad Black, the Deputy Chairman of John Fairfax Holdings Limited. The Council's submission referred only to the general question of foreign ownership of the print media and made no reference to the particular questions raised by Mr Black's statements. The submission adopts as the Council's position the suggestions it had previously made to the 1991-92 House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media.

The texts of these submissions were included as supplements with this issue of the News.

For more detail on defamation,
see the Defamation index page

For more detail on the Council's views on media ownership,
see the FoP positions page

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Annual Report 17

The Council's seventeenth Annual Report has been released. It deals with the Council's activities in the year ended 30 June 1993 and included the complete text of all adjudications and general press releases issued by the Council through the year. It notes that 429 complaints were received. Of these, 63 were mediated to the complainant's satisfaction, 59 were withdrawn after the newspaper's response had been received and 126 were the subject of adjudication.

The Council issued 79 adjudications (many of which dealt with the same matter from different complainants or with a number of separate complaints against the same publication by the same complainant). 31 complaints were upheld in whole or part, 47 were dismissed and one was the subject of a general statement.

90% of adjudications were published in the newspaper or magazine complained of. Three adverse adjudications were not published by small country newspapers.

In the section dealing with Council's activities in protecting freedom of the press, it notes the seven submissions made to government and other authorities and the reissuing of two other submissions. It also notes the other activities in its concern with the protection of journalists' sources, defamation law reform, privacy legislation, powers of search and seizure and suppression of information, inter alia.

The report also contains details on the publications produced by the major publishers of Australian newspapers and magazines. This section has been augmented this year by more details on the major chains of suburban newspaper and magazine publishers.

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

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Licensing

The Council's Chairman, Professor David Flint, expressed his concern at proposals from the South Australian Police Department that journalists be licensed. The proposals were made to a Senate Committee inquiring into the rights and obligations of the media.

Prof Flint noted: "The Council is opposed to a reported proposal to license journalists. That would be tantamount to licensing free speech, which should be a basic right of all citizens.

"There are many safeguards in those cases where a small minority of journalists behave unethically."

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On the Council

The Council has appointed Judy Taylor to fill the public member vacancy caused by the death of Mike Vernon. Mrs Taylor is a past President of the NSW Royal Guide Dogs Association and runs, with her husband, a grazing property near Coonamble in NSW. She has been a public member alternate since February 1988.

Dr Eric Tan, of Perth, a public member of the Council since June 1987, has resigned from the Council, citing the pressure of other commitments. The Council noted its appreciation for his contribution to it.

In the light of the vacancies caused by the resignation and by recent promotions from the panel of public member alternates, the Council is inviting applications from interested members of the public in the ACT, south and central Queensland, and Western Australia for appointment as either a public member or alternate member of the Council. Applications close on 10 March 1994. Further details can be obtained from the Council's office.

For more detail on the current Council membership,
see the Membership index page.

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The Reporting of Crime

Further to the stories in the last two issues of the News on the reporting of sieges and other major incidents, there have been two developments.

• The NSW Police have had a further meeting with representatives of the media and both parties agreed to examine the "construction and adoption of workable guidelines" to cover media contact with those involved in sieges and similar incidents.
  
  The meeting was also noted that there would be a national forum in March 1994 to be arranged by the office of the federal Attorney-General.
   
• The Victoria Police have released a report, Crime, Tragedy and the Media, which looks at the effect of media coverage on victims of crime and the relatives of those involved in major incidents. The study recommends changes in media practice to safeguard the rights and well-being of victims of crime.

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Whistleblowers

The Council addressed a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Public Interest Whistleblowing, urging federal legislation to protect whistleblowers, including those who make disclosure to the media. The text of the submission was largely the same as the submission made to the NSW Legislation Committee on that state's proposed Bill, which was printed as a supplement to the News, Vol 5, No 2, May 1993. Copies of the submission are available from the Council's office.

The Council also noted the report of the NSW Legislation Committee. The "majority" (the three government members) recommended "... that last resort disclosures to the media not be given protection under the Bill as is the case with the Bill before the Parliament". However, a report from the "minority" (the two ALP and one independent members) noted:

"We dissent from the recommendation of the Committee that disclosure to the media as a last resort not be protected.

"We propose that a whistleblower's disclosure to the media, as a last resort, be protected where the following conditions are met:

1. that the whistleblower had reasonable grounds for believing that the report made was true; and
    
2. that the allegation is true in all material respects; and
    
3. the whistleblower had made the disclosure to an investigating authority and that authority had completed its investigations of the disclosure or decided not to investigate the matter.

"The whistleblower's protection from defamation actions does not extend to the media, only to the whistleblower.

"We believe that disclosure to the media as a last resort should be protected because:

• institutional failure can occur. This was acknowledged by the ICAC in their submission. In such circumstances, there is no other effective means of ensuring the allegation is investigated.
   
• the requirement that the whistleblower had made a disclosure to an investigating authority before disclosing to the media compels a whistleblower seeking protection to follow the proper channels of investigation.
   
• the requirement of 'truth in all material respects' is a more stringent test than is applied to disclosures within the bureaucracy. This is appropriate because a disclosure which is incorrect could cause harm to a person the subject of the disclosure.
   
• the test operates after the disclosure is made. A person cannot be certain at the time of the media disclosure that they will be protected. This places the person in the same position as a person seeking to justify a defamatory statement, which is appropriate in view of the capacity for their disclosure to harm an individual."

For more detail on the Council's views on whistleblowers,
see the FoP positions page

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