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May 2003 - Volume 15, No.2
News in brief - May 2003 APC Prize 2003 2003 APC Prize The Australian Press Council has announced the terms of entry for its 2003 award. The Prize is awarded for the best essay submitted on a set topic. In 2003 the topic is: The ability of newspapers to publish anything they want has always been constrained by laws, including defamation, suppression and contempt. More recently, laws protecting privacy and outlawing racial vilification have increased the constraints on newspapers. What, if any, such curbs on a free press, including but not limited to those already noted, are justified in a pluralist and multicultural Australia? Following the remarks made by the judges for the 1998-99 Prize and a decision taken by the Council, entries are invited from Tertiary students (as at 30 June 2003) only. This year, there will be no Prize offered in a secondary schools' section. The word limit for essays is 2,500 words. Winners will be selected by a panel of three judges and prizes of up to $2,000 will be awarded. The final date for receipt of submissions is 30 June 2003. At the request of the previous judges, the Council specifies that it would prefer entries that demonstrate some effort to research the topic and argue it seriously. It also requests that entries be typescript and double-spaced. No formal entry form is required. The Australian Press Council reserves the right not to award a prize/s. INQUIRIES: Tel: (02) 9261 1930 or (1800) 02 5712 email: info@presscouncil.org.au For the guidance of entrants, the Council has posted on its website some comments from the judges of the 1994 Prize and of the 1998 Prize, which were of the same format but with a different essay topic. A different approach can be seen in the judges' comments on the 2000, 2001 and 2002 Prizes also posted to the website. see also [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Launch of book on Rev. John West The Australian Press Council, with support from John Fairfax Publications, is sponsoring the Sydney launch of a new biography of the Rev. John West, a religious dissenter who helped found the Launceston Examiner and who was later an editor of The Sydney Morning Herald in the 1850s. He was among the more important journalists and editors of the colonial period. A former Public Member of the Press Council Patricia Ratcliff has written the book, The Usefulness of John West: Dissent and Difference in the Australian Colonies. It is being launched at separate ceremonies in Launceston, Sydney and Canberra. Ms Ratcliff was for nine years a member of the Council, representing the people of Tasmania. She is a founder of the Launceston Historical Society and of the annual Examiner-John West Memorial Lecture. Her previous books have included The Story of Wybalenna (1975) and she edited John West's Union of the Colonies: Essays on Federation, written under the pseudonym of John Adams (2000). The Sydney launch will take place at 6 pm on Wednesday 18 June 2003 in the Dixson Room of the NSW State Library (enter through historic Mitchell wing). Paul Brunton, the Mitchell Library's Senior Curator, will be launching the book. The launch is open to the public and admission is free. Light refreshments will be served. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Editors' forum and survey The Council has decided to hold a series of forums with editors in 2003, similar to the successful 2002 discussions. The forums will be held in the second half of the year. Among the subjects to be raised with editors will be:
The Council sees these forums as a way of 'benchmarking' its performance. At the same time, the Council is surveying its complainants to ascertain their reaction to the Council's procedures. The first such survey was conducted in 1994. The current survey will be an on-going one, with forms being sent to complainants when the file has been closed or the process completed. The first such surveys have been distributed and returned. Results will be reported as they are compiled. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index ASIO Terrorism Bill The Council has joined with a number of media organisations, including News Corp and Fairfax Publications and representatives of the commercial and national electronic media, to express concerns with some aspects of the ASIO Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002. When the Bill was previously before the Parliament the same group expressed reservations but this time has noted a number of changes made to the legislation which has substantially improved it. A letter sent to the federal Attorney-General expresses concern with possible five-year jail sentences for not appearing for questioning and for declining to produce a requested record. But the two core issues of utmost concern remain:
These raise the possibility of a severe infringement on civil liberties generally and could directly and adversely affect the ability of media organisations accurately to report the news. The reversal of the burden of proof and the ability to detain people without access to legal advice on a suspicion that they may be able to provide information in connection with an investigation are significant infringements on human rights and potential restrictions on the ability of a free press to gather and disseminate information. The media organisations do not oppose the legislation per se but seek appropriate changes to the Bill. see also [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Parliamentary Privilege Last year The Age reported the findings of a Senate Committee on cross-media ownership legislation a day before the Committee reported. This matter was referred to the Senate privileges Committee which delivered a report on the matter earlier this year. The report found "reluctantly" that there was no contempt because the breach of privilege did not substantially obstruct the committee's work. But in tabling the report, the Privileges Committee Chairman, Senator Robert Ray, fired a shot across the media's bows, suggesting that the rules might be changed so that the act of prematurely publishing a report would be a contempt in itself. The Council wrote to the Committee Chairman with its concerns at his remarks and the implications for the full and free reporting of Parliament. Senator Ray has responded, denying that 'the committee has reached any conclusion on the matter'. He took issue with some of the Council's interpretations of the committee's reports and argued that there was no intention to restrict the media's ability to report. The Press Council determined to respond equally strongly, raising again the issue that most such committee leaks emanate from politicians but the Privileges Committee is concentrating its fire on the messenger, in this case the journalists and editors. The Council also sent copies of the correspondence to editors of major metropolitan and regional newspapers to keep them informed of "the absurdities of the way the privileges game may be played". [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Tonga The Chairs of the Press Councils of NZ and Australia and the Fiji Media Council agreed to issue a joint statement on the situation in Tonga where the Executive (the Privy Council) had over-ruled the Supreme Court and re-imposed bans on a local newspaper, which has been forced to print in New Zealand. The Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) Chairs in Australia and NZ agreed to support the statement and it had been widely circulated. The Council had also passed it along to the CPU for further international action. In the statement, the Councils and the CPU noted their growing apprehension at the reaction of the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga to the issues of free speech and the rights of a free press. They said:
[ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index PNG Professor Ken McKinnon, the Chairman of the Australian Press Council, has visited PNG and helped launch a self-regulatory ombudsman scheme to oversight a media code of ethics. The board for the scheme consists of five prominent members of civil society with the Media Council (MC) providing secretarial support. The Chairman had offered APC assistance to the MC and its Chairman will be visiting the Press Council office in late May to discuss matters with the Executive Secretary. During his visit, the Chairman discussed with the local media organisations threats from the PNG Parliamentary Privileges Committee to call before it anyone uttering anti-PNG statements, including members of the media. The MC has sought assurances from the government on its support for continued freedom of the press in PNG and has been assured that there is no likelihood of such a scheme being formalised. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Race for Headlines In March the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board issued a report, Race for Headlines, which offered comments on what it saw as unfair media reporting of certain ethnic and racial minority groups. This report arose particularly from reports on a number of recent stories, especially the arrival in 2001 of asylum seekers and the trials of suspects in a number of gang rapes in western Sydney. The ADB's recommendations included: That the Australian Press Council and the Australian Broadcasting Authority develop a mechanism to enable minority racial and ethnic communities who have been subjected to sustained negative reporting to make a complaint which is adjudicated by the Council/Authority. If the Council/Authority finds in favor of the complainant, they (sic) would encourage/require that adequate space in the relevant newspaper or on the relevant broadcaster be given for a 'right of reply'. The Council, which had not been consulted by the ABD prior to the issuing of the report, did not believe that the report made a case for a wholesale review of its handling of such matters. It has responded to the Board, noting that
[ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Case Studies 2003 The Press Council is again in 2003 offering its Case Studies Seminars to tertiary institutions with journalism or communications courses. About fifteen unis will be visited this year. These seminars use case studies based on complaints adjudicated by the Council. Examples of some case studies are available on the Press Council website (http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/studies.html). [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index On the Council The Council is currently interviewing candidates for a Public Member vacancy in NSW and nominations have closed for a similar position in Western Australia. The latter is being occasioned by the retirement of Jack Ensor, who completes his third three-year term in June this year. An interview with Jack Ensor can be found elsewhere in this issue of the News. Nominations for both positions are expected at the June 2003 meeting of the Council. Meanwhile, the Council endorsed the nominations from several of its Contributing Bodies. West Australian Newspapers has nominated Editor Brian Rogers to a second term, with Deputy Editor Karen Brown as his alternate. The Herald and Weekly Times has renominated Editorial Development Manager Chris McLeod (a member since 1991) as its representative, with Adelaide Advertiser Associate Editor Rex Jory as his alternate. Country Press Australia has renominated David Sommerlad (a member since 1983) as its representative, with Narrabri Courier Editor John Dunnet as his alternate. The Age's representative, Ray Cassin, has stepped down for personal reasons. His replacement is David Elias. He has been a journalist for more than forty years, working in newspapers in Australia and Britain as a reporter, feature writer, columnist, news editor and section editor. He is a senior writer at The Age and the winner of two Melbourne Press Club Quill awards for business journalism. In 1997 he chaired The Age's independence committee which was reconvened by the paper's editorial staff to oppose any further concentration of media ownership in Australia when the Federal Government proposed changes to legislation governing overseas and cross-media ownership. Russel Skelton remains his alternate. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Lyle Turnbull The Council noted with regret the recent passing of Lyle Turnbull, the long-time editor in chief of the Herald and Weekly Times, and lately President of the Commonwealth Press Union. His mate John Morgan, an editor member of the Council, noted in his obituary that Lyle Turnbull "played a significant, and probably critical, role in the founding of the Australian Press Council when other sections of the Australian newspaper business were either hesitant or frankly antagonistic. He was never a member of the Council, but a constant supporter." It was Lyle Turnbull, in co-operation with David McNicoll and Ranald McDonald, who pushed with the Australian Newspaper Council for a Press Council and selected Sir Frank Kitto as its first Chair. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 2003 Index Mediated Complaints The Council office tries to solve matters by direct contact with the publication concerned. This often leads to a settlement of the matter satisfactory to both parties. On rare occasions, a Public Member of the Council will convene a face-to-face mediation, by agreement with the parties. Below are some examples of the matters recently settled in these ways.
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