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May 1995 - Volume 7, No.2
News in brief - May 1995 1995-6 APC Prize 1995-6 APC Prize The Council has announced the terms of entry for its 1995-6 award. In its first four years the Prize was generally 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 was awarded for the best essay submitted on a set topic (The freedom of the press and its responsibility) and both tertiary and secondary students were eligible to enter. In 1995-6, the Prize will be awarded on a similar basis to 1994. However, the entry year will be altered to coincide with the financial year. The topic for this year's Prize is: Newspapers: A Voice for All? Entries are invited in two categories:
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: 30 June 1996. The Australian Press Council reserves the right not to award a prize/s. INQUIRIES: Tel: (02) 261 1930 For more detail on the APC Essay Prize, see the Prize index page [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index 1994 APC Prize The Council received 30 entires for its 1994 Prize, 24 from secondary students and 6 from tertiary students. The entries are now with the judges and will be assessed over the next month or so. The Council expects to advise the winners in June 1995 and publish the results in the August 1995 News. For more detail on the APC Essay Prize, see the Prize index page [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index Surveys and Questionnaires This issue of the News includes, as a supplement, the first report on the Council's survey of its complainants from the last five years. A more detailed version of this report, complete with statistical tables, will be published later this year. The same publication will report a small survey of some of the newspaper executives who have been responsible for answering complaints on behalf of publications. A preliminary report on that survey is also contained in this issue. At its public forums, case studies seminars and meetings at which it is represented, the Council has been conducting a series of questionnaires on some of the matters that are also covered in the survey: attitudes to the media, to freedom of expression issues and to the Council. Prof Flint, in his column, refers to the 1994 results from this series of questionnaires. A more detailed analysis of this material will appear in the August News. As a result of the surveys and questionnaires, the Council is putting together a plan for reform of its structure, principles and procedures. These matters will then be discussed with the Council's Constituent Bodies and other appropriate groups and individuals. The feedback from previous complainants and from those interested in the media has enabled the Council better to understand where action needs to be taken to address perceived problems with its structure and procedures and make it more relevant to the public. The Council will continue to conduct surveys of those attending its forums and seminars and will conduct an annual survey of complainants to measure the success of any reforms it makes. In the light of the results of the surveys, it was interesting to read a report in The Sydney Morning Herald of 5 April concerning a study of complaints-handling procedures in medium and large Australian companies, commissioned by the Society for Consumer Affairs Professionals. It showed that fewer than 10% of the companies had effective procedures to handle complaints and that a third had no employee to handle complaints. In comparison to that result, the Press Council, as the self-regulatory body of the print media, provides a very efficient and successful method of dealing with the public's complaints. see also [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index Hobart Public Forum The Australian Press Council hosted a Public Forum in Hobart, on Thursday 30 March, discussing the extent to which newspapers should reflect both the "mainstream" viewpoint and the various "minority" viewpoints competing for attention. The meeting, "Newspapers: A Voice for All?", featured three main speakers: Prof Alan Gilbert, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania; Suzy Manigian, the Nature Conservation Coordinator of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust; and Michael Courtney, the former editor of the Launceston Examiner. The forum was opened by the city's Lord Mayor, Cr Doone Kennedy, and the topic was introduced by Professor David Flint, the Chairman of the Australian Press Council. The meeting was chaired by Dorothy Ross, Vice Chairman of the Press Council and a Past National President of the Country Women's Association of Australia. The speeches were followed by a lively questions and discussion time. The editor of each of the three Tasmanian daily newspapers attended the Forum and participated in the discussion. A report of the meeting is printed page one of this issue and a transcript of it will be available quite soon. While in Hobart, the Council held its March meeting on Friday 31 March, preceded by meetings of its Complaints Committee and Freedom of the Press Committee on 30 March and Prof Flint delivered a lecture to students in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tasmania about aspects of media practice in Australia. This was the Council's first visit to Hobart. Its previous visit to Tasmania was to Launceston in 1989. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index On the Council Patricia Ratcliff, a public member of the council since 1987, has decided to retire from the Council to concentrate her energy on a planned biography of Rev. John West, a colonial Tasmanian journalist and editor. At the March meeting of the Council Prof Flint noted Mrs Ratcliff's contribution to the Council since her appointment as a Public Member on 25 June 1987 and said that he had enjoyed working with her during her time on the Council. He particularly commended her for the work she did in respect of the Council's 1989 visit to Launceston. The Vice-Chairman of the Council, Dorothy Ross, moved "That the Council record its appreciation of the contribution of Mrs Patricia Ratcliff since her appointed in 1987. Mrs Ratcliff, who in that time battled a life-threatening illness, has always given earnest consideration to Council matters, and her resignation is accepted with regret". The motion was approved by acclamation. As a result of the retirement of Mrs Ratcliff, the Council needs to appoint a replacement Public Member and fill a vacancy in the ranks of Public Member alternates. Consequently, to fill those vacancies in the areas which is now not represented on the Council or underrepresented there, the Council has placed advertisements in daily newspapers in Tasmania and South Australia. A version of that ad appears here:
[ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index The Law of Contempt The Australian Press Council has proposed radical changes to the law of contempt to make it conform to fundamental principles of criminal law. This follows a bizarre contempt case in which the Court of Appeal, as well as a newspaper, inadvertently caused the abortion of a man's trial by adverting to details of his previous convictions. In putting the suggestions forward, Prof Flint said: "Contempt of court by alleged prejudice to a fair trial is a criminal offence. Those found guilty may be deprived of their liberty or subjected to heavy fines. It is fundamental to our legal system that criminal offences are heard and decided by a jury, and that an alleged offender cannot be found guilty unless he has a guilty mind. "As the Australian High Court judge, Sir Gerard Brennan, observed in He Kaw Teh v R (1985): 'A person who engages in prohibited conduct is not criminally responsible for it unless the mental element is present. The mental element is mens rea or guilty mind.' "Nevertheless, as a exception to the general rule, contempt cases are at present heard by a judge or judges sitting without a jury, and they can find alleged offenders guilty even though the alleged offence was inadvertent." The Chairman said the Press Council is thus proposing to legal authorities that no person or organisation be found guilty of contempt except after a trial by jury in which it is proved that the alleged offenders had a 'guilty mind'. A recent case, Registrar of the Court of Appeal v John Fairfax Group Pty Ltd & Anor, appeared to reinforce the need to introduce the concept of the 'guilty mind' into contempt law. "In that case," said Prof Flint, "the NSW Court of Appeal itself could be said inadvertently to have prejudiced the fair hearing of a trial. The facts were as follows. "In November 1993, a lawyer, Christopher Murphy, un-aware that a man's trial was proceeding, mentioned details of the man's previous convictions in a Fairfax newspaper, The Sun-Herald. Publication of the details inadvertently caused the abortion of his trial. "In October 1994, in the process of finding Fairfax and Mr Murphy guilty of contempt, three judges of the Court of Appeal, unaware that another trial of the same man was proceeding, mentioned details of his previous convictions. Publication of the details in their judgment thus in-advertently also caused the abortion of a trial. This outcome was brought to the attention of the judges in a hearing on penalty in December. "On February 23, 1995, the Court of Appeal, applying the present law of contempt, confirmed the guilty verdicts against Fairfax and Mr Murphy. Although no fine was imposed, Fairfax's fault in publishing the contempt was, according to the court, 'adequately reflected in an order that it pay the claimant's costs'. Fairfax also had to pay its own legal costs." see also [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index Exchange Scheme The Australia-India Council (AIC) is expanding its Journalist Exchange Scheme. The AIC scheme aims to encourage more informed and better reporting and analysis of Australian, Indian and bilateral affairs. Established in 1992, the AIC's objectives include increasing knowledge of, and contact between, the two countries. The exchange scheme involves one month long exchanges between media organisations in the two countries. Several Australian journalists from the print and electronic media have recently taken advantage of the scheme. More details on the scheme can be obtained from the AIC, PO Box E8, Queen Victoria Terrace, ACT 2600. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index Freedom of Expression Speaking at a human rights congress in Sydney in mid-February, the Chairman of the Australian Press Council, Prof David Flint, pointed out that authoritative international surveys ranked Australia's standing on freedom of expression issues lower than comparable countries because of inadequate protection of that freedom. In arguing that any future change to the Constitution must include a guarantee of free speech and a free press, Prof Flint said: "When we wrote our own Constitution, our founding fathers were impressed by the argument that, compared with the major civil law countries of Europe, the common law was on the whole a more effective guarantor of freedom. And that was true at the time. Now, as we approach the twenty-first century, the great step forward in the US Constitution of guaranteeing freedom of speech and of the press could become a significant check and balance in our Constitution. If we want openness in government and public life, the only way to ensure that is through a free press and media. Recall that the trigger for the exposure of maladministration and worse in Australia has been the vigilance of the media. Had they the protection which the media has in the United States, they could perhaps have informed us earlier of the results of their investigations. The benefits to the public are clear. "We are today about to benefit, after undue delays, from a technological revolution which will ensure a multiplicity of electronic providers alongside the existing networks and print media. As we are liberated by the technology of the late twentieth century, let us also adopt the liberation which came from the American Revolution." The text of Prof Flint's address is available from the Press Council office. [ return to top ] Return to APC News 1995 Index Documents with the |
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