In 2005, then Prime Minister John Howard said “The best safeguards we have for our democracy are a robust parliamentary process, a free press, and an incorruptible judiciary. If you’ve got those three things, you’ve got a free country. If you don’t have all of those three things you don’t have a fully free country,” (Nash, 2005).
In 1888 Abraham Linchlon wrote “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Whitehouse.org, 2011).
So when it comes to journalism and the media, what is freedom of the press?
“Freedom of the press involves the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other printed or published matter without government restriction and subject only to laws of states and nations” (United Nations, 2010).
Why is freedom of the press important?
The media is often referred to as the fourth estate, this is because journalists have the power to uncover and publish the truth. The media acts as an almost regulatory body over governments and other powerful institutions in the attempt to let the people/public know the truth.
However, I think it’s fair to question whether the press really is ‘free’?
“Freedom of the press has always meant freedom from government control and censorship, but now the communications industry itself is the major censor, with control of access to the media resting in a very few hands,” (Barron, 1973).
Journalists and publications actually can’t publish anything they want due to privacy and defamation acts and also majority of the media we as the audience interact with is owned by a very concentrated ownership group, so it seems impossible to have a completely free press when there are endless restrictions that stop this from happening.
Here are just some of the problems that limit freedom of the press:
· Privacy
· Media Convergence and Ownership Concentration
· Political Pressures
· Laws and Restrictions
But should journalists be allowed to have total freedom? Is there a point where too much freedom is harmful?
The recent break of the News of The World phone hacking scandal has shown where the line between freedom of the press compared to an intrusion of privacy has been crossed. A journalist hacking into phones and personal information without permission is deemed as unethical practice.
Is there ever a point where hacking phones and personal information is classed as being acceptable practice if it is in the public interest?
This is where the privacy verse public interest debate comes into it and coming to a conclusion seems near impossible.
In the digital age, what classifies as privacy and private information is certainly being challenged as satellite TV, internet based blogs, newspapers and social networking sites are more and more being seen as a source of openness and a source of private information made public.
If twitter and facebook users are allowed to publish information freely, why can’t journalists? We allow bloggers to be labeled journalists or citizen journalists, but they aren’t expected to conduct themselves with the same ethical manners?
Thomas Jefferson said "When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property." (Whitehouse.org, 2011).
Is this the point at which journalists are permitted to publish so called private information?
With the increasing focus on the ethics of journalists and the impact of scandals like the phone hacking at NOTW, journalists now have a responsibility to conduct themselves ethically and regain the trust from the public.
Laurie Oaks explains that there are a large number of stories that have broken in the last 12 months, so there isn’t a need to get stories in an unethical manner. The main question here is why do we need to hack phones when there are great stories on our door step?
Malcolm Turnbull put it correctly when he said “We have moved away from a news cycle to a more opinion cycle” (Creagh, 2011).
Finally, ask yourself this, does the audience want to see sensationalism or objectivity?
References:
Barron, J. (1973) Freedom of the press for whom? Indiana University Press: Bloomington.
Creagh, S. (2011). A free society doesn't license newspapers: Turnbull. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://theconversation.edu.au/a-free-society-doesnt-license-newspapers-turnbull-2355
Nash, C. (2005). Freedom of the Press in the New Australian Security State. NSW Law Journal 28(5).
Unknown. (2010). Freedom of Expression, Human Rights Education Associates. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=408
Whitehouse.org. (2011). Abraham Lincoln. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln
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