Profile

Peter Costigan is a long-serving journalist member of the Press Council. Deborah Kirkman talked to him about his views on the Council and on journalism. The profile was cowritten by Deborah Kirkman and Jack Herman.

Peter Costigan is a freelance journalist who has worked in radio and television, as well as the print media. This means that he has brought a wealth of practical experience to his role as a Journalist Member of the Australian Press Council, a position he has held since 1982.

He was first elected to the Council by the membership of the then Australian Journalists' Association and retained his membership when that union severed its ties with the Council in 1987. Since 1987, journalist members have been appointed by the Council on the recommendation of the Chairman, from among independent or retired journalists.

Peter studied law at Melbourne University, editing the student newspaper while there. He then went to work for the Melbourne Herald as a journalist, including time as industrial roundsman, shipping reporter, motoring editor and chief feature writer. He spent ten years in Washington and New York (1966-76) as the Herald & Weekly Times' US correspondent. On his return he was for the next eleven years the Melbourne Herald's chief political correspondent in Canberra, to him another "foreign assignment".

While in Canberra, Peter served as President of the Press Gallery for four years and twice won the National Press Club Award for political journalism.

Peter chose to become an independent journalist in 1987, contributing columns, articles and comment to newspapers throughout Australia, on the ABC and commercial radio and on commercial television, and lecturing at conferences, the Australian College of Management and business lunches and dinners on the media's role in society and Australia's place in a global society.

Joining the Council

When asked why he decided to run as the AJA's representative on the Press Council, Peter noted that, on his return from Washington in 1976, he "had taken a great interest in the contrast between American and Australian journalism and believed the relatively new Council was essential for us in the absence of the US First Amendment." Ken Randall, another Canberra-based journalist, had been an AJA representative but was committed, in the early 1980s, to other projects. They agreed that Peter should stand for the Council seat Ken held."In 1982 (and in 1985) I stood for the AJA seat, which was voted on by all AJA members. I won both elections (62% in '82 and 65% in '85)."

In 1987, when the AJA left the Council, Peter decided to stay. On this decision, he argues:

"Having been elected by the AJA members and not by the union executive I saw no reason to follow the executive's decision; indeed I felt a duty to follow the wishes of the journalist voters. I also believe the executive had tried to manipulate an outcome at the famous 'split' meeting of the Council, called to condemn the proposed News Limited takeover of the Herald and Weekly Times, and disagreed with both that approach and the procedures of the meeting."

Changes to the Council

As a member of the Council for sixteen years, Peter Costigan has been in a good position to observe changes in the body. He believes that the Press Council has become a more effective complaints tribunal over the past 16 years. He gives a couple of reasons for this: the Council is much more widely known, especially to aggrieved members of the public; and it has become a serious avenue for the settlement of complaints. Additionally, he argues that the Council has created a culture where editors now respect, even fear, Council scrutiny of their decisions.

He rejects the perception that the Council is a "toothless tiger", arguing that the perception of powerlessness is "generated by Council opponents and those with agendas like the push for the formation of a statutory body to regulate the print media. Having achieved virtual 100 percent compliance with adjudication publication, I believe the Council is on the right track to step up its campaign for more 'prominent' publication. Putting 'teeth' in the Press Council has been a steady, step by step, process, and it is now seen as being much more of a powerful body than it was 16 years ago."

Statutory Regulation

Peter argues strongly against statutory regulation of the media. Apart from the fact that statutes inhibit freedom of choice, he says, they also inevitably define perimeters outside of which mayhem can occur. More importantly, he suggests that the role of the press is to monitor the actions of government so any government regulation is, by definition, an unacceptable constraint on freedom of speech and the press.

Noting that the composition of the Council (at present 10 publisher representatives, 3 journalists, 7 members of the public and an independent Chairman) has attracted criticism for its weighting towards the industry, Peter Costigan says that the membership "merits constant attention, as all dynamic bodies should." But he rejects the assertion that it is an elitist group. "I find that when the composition is explained to relatively uninformed critics, they agree that the balance is pretty good."

Media Watch

He supports programs such as Media Watch, arguing that they add to the debate on media ethics."Criticisms of the quality of such programs are not the point. The more the press is examined, by itself and by outsiders, the better for a climate of free speech. The more the examination, I suggest, the better the chances for improvement of standards."

Turning to questions of journalism and how its has changed during his time on the Council, Peter notes that the dedication of print journalists has, if anything, intensified. But, for many reasons including a misdirected inclination to "chase" the electronic media and adopt some of its attitudes, "the standards of accuracy and balance have declined. The bulk of journalists still try to find out what and why and report it as accurately as they can. The main problem is that editors and managers have tended to encourage a blur in the line between reporting and comment."

Training of Journalists

Peter entered journalism at a time when all training was done on the job. Nowadays many universities offer journalism courses. He suggests that such courses have not proved particularly useful in the mainstream media but have been in tangential careers, like public relations. Some of the schools are obviously very good, but have battled against a newspaper prejudice against them. He thinks both their value and status would be improved if universities worked more closely with the professional media and the students had a chance to gain practical experience while studying.

Peter has no preference for cadet training over university courses, arguing that the basis of a good journalist is neither degree nor training based. "It is innate curiosity and a desire to find out the facts. My own view of what is ideal training is a combination of academic studies and on-the-job training. The latter is fundamentally important in learning the techniques of unearthing facts, reporting accurately and fairly and avoiding both misrepresentation and defamation."

Australia v. U.S.

As a foreign correspondent working in the US, the fundamental difference between the US and Australian press he noted was "the protection of the First Amendment in the US. Defamation law, especially about public figures, is dramatically different (including savage penalties in the USA for malicious untruths). A secondary difference is that American journalists themselves are held in higher esteem both by their employers and by the community. It has led to a more professional and more independent class of journalists than in Australia."

Professionally Peter Costigan's one regret is that he has not had the chance to edit a major newspaper, "especially one which has lost its way." Of the people he has not interviewed but would have liked to, he singles out his own father. "I have learned so much about him and how he brought up eight children, all successful in their own fields, that he would make a fascinating interview!"

Peter Costigan continues to work independently across a wide range of the media. He writes and comments on cars, the transport industries, industrial relations and sport, as well as writing by-lined opinion columns for a number of newspapers. His independence and wide-ranging interests make him an asset to the Press Council, which has frequently benefited from his experience in practical journalism and his individual viewpoint.

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