5. Contemporary Issues in the Australian Press
Self-regulation of on-line news sites
The Australian Press Council has decided that, if there are any websites willing to come within its remit, the Council is prepared to take responsibility for the self-regulation of news websites, in the same way as it does for the periodical press.
Currently, the Council has dual roles as the self-regulatory body of the Australian print media: it seeks to maintain a free press, by opposing moves that would restrict the ability of the press to inform the public on matters of public interest and concern; and it seeks to ensure that the press is both free and responsible by dealing with complaints from the public about the ethical behaviour of newspapers and magazines (and their publishers ' websites). Complaints are made under the Council 's Statement of Principles, which can be found on its website, www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/complaints/sop.html. The Council has decided that those principles will apply to participating news websites in the same way as they do to reporting in newspapers and magazines.
Additionally, the Council administers the Privacy Standards for the Print Media, which allow those media organisations that publicly subscribe to the standards to claim an exemption from the ambit of the federal Privacy Act for their journalistic activities. Those privacy standards will apply as readily to media organisations that publish on the Internet as they do to those media organisations that publish in print. Complaints about possible breaches of the privacy standards should be made to the Press Council in the same way as complaints about alleged breaches of the Principles. The Privacy Standards for the Print Media can also be found on the Council 's website ( www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/complaints/priv_stand.html.)
Until now there has been no means of regulating the news content of Internet sites. The Australian Communications and Media Authority believes that its main role is licensing and regulating the broadcast media and, except in cases where there may be offensive material posted, does not see itself as having a role in regulating the web.
However, just as the print media faced the possibility in 1975 of government regulation of the press, so the publishers of Internet news sites have the prospect that a government may determine to impose a regulatory regime. After consultation the Press Council came to the conclusion that the solution found by the publishers and journalists in 1975-76, the establishment of an industry-based self-regulatory mechanism, is preferable to government regulation.
Accordingly, because the news sites of its member publishers already come within the Council jurisdiction, it decided to offer other publishers of news sites the opportunity to affiliate with the Council. Council membership offers affiliation within the framework of a set of principles and practices that have developed over thirty years of operation within the relatively free environment of the Australian press. And it offers a Council, comprised of representatives of the publishers, of journalists and of members of the public, convened by an independent Chairman, to administer those principles and practices. Membership will entail use by the web-site of the Press Council logo as a way of saying publicly, "We abide by this set of standards in our reporting, and commenting on, the news".
Another advantage for readers of member web-sites is the assurance that they can come to the Council and get assistance in ensuring that any inaccuracy or misrepresentation is corrected or balance provided.
The Council is having further discussions about membership with a number of publishers reporting news solely on the Internet. While the basic principles of extension of membership have been determined, other details of the rights and responsibilities of membership for stand-alone news sites are still being discussed.