Local Press

When I did an interview with a council worker a couple of years ago I asked him about an issue that had popped up in the local newspaper. "That’s just the local rag," he said dismissively.

But according to Bob Carr’s former Chief of Staff Bruce Hawker, research shows that not only do people prefer to read their local rag, but people also read their local papers more carefully than the big city metros. Scott Richardson reports.

Hawker writes in a report for his PR firm that people are more interested in things that impact us directly and immediately. While we might be shocked at the horrors of Iraq he says, we know that we probably care a lot more about the funding cuts to the school down the road: the one we used to go to, the one our kids now go to. Just as importantly, we feel we can do a lot more to save the local school than quell violence on the other side of the world.

“The local media has unprecedented influence and power,” Hawker says.

The Manly Daily is the local paper where I live and to my knowledge is the only daily local paper in Sydney. Indeed, for many people on the Northern Beaches it is the only paper they read. It meant that at the last state election the paper found itself at the centre of a PR battle as two local Independent MPs and two Liberal candidates fought hard for every photo and every story.

The editor of the Manly Daily Kathy Lipari told the Sydney Morning Herald “we take an even-handed approach and I have had the same complaints from all sides of local politics that their press releases and photos don't receive the run that they think they deserve.”

There is no doubting the role the Manly Daily played in getting local issues such as the fight to save Mona Vale hospital and the awful transport situation to the forefront of the election debate in the area.

Not all local news need be in print form of course. Newly created website Village Voice, developed by FPC Community Media Group aims to provide news and local information for people living in the greater Sydney area. While maintaining regular journalists, the site also encourages citizen journalism: allowing locals to write their own stories and post up notices about local events.

So local rags, whether it be jingoistic newspapers or websites promoting ‘citizen journalism’ are here to stay. They have an importance role to play in making the issues and concerns of people heard by those in power and in getting something done about it.

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Our Declining State of Press Freedom

Last month the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) released their 2007 Press Freedom Report titled Official Spin: Censorship and Control of the Australian Press 2007. The report highlights the declining state of press freedom in Australia, particularly with regard to laws enacted in the name of national security. Scott Richardson takes a look at the report's findings and its implications.

The MEAA report discusses the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's report into sedition laws. The report suggested that the offence of urging of others to use force should be clearly intentional with the intent being for violence to occur and that a jury should take into consideration the context for which the alleged seditious comments occurred, that is, in an industrial dispute or an artistic performance for example.

The report notes that it took Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock five days to ignore all 27 recommendations and make no amendments.

George Williams, the Anthony Mason Professor and Director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at UNSW writes in the MEAA report:

"These examples demonstrate how fragile freedom of speech is in Australia. They expose how we assume, rather than actually protect, the freedom. Like other democratic nations, we ought to grant expression specific legal protection in a national charter of rights."

The report goes on to describe the manipulation of non-government organisations (NGOs). Dr Sarah Maddison of UNSW writes that the Federal Government has engaged in unprecedented attacks on NGOs that disagree with Government policy. Dr Maddison argues that questions on their accountability and their future classification as charitable organisations are used to quell their dissenting views. Meanwhile other more ‘disciplined’ NGOs are elevated by funding and through the placement of members onto Government boards.

Dr Maddison writes: "Like individual citizens, community groups are being worn down and are increasingly reluctant to engage in the democratic process because they no longer believe that they can make a difference. There are grounds for serious concern that the longer this continues the more difficult it will be to reshape and rebuild the structures of democratic participation."

The report also discusses the increasing problems with Freedom of Information laws, the increasing concentration of the media market and attacks on the ABC.

It’s not just the MEAA that have been pointing to the worrying status of free press in Australia.

Australia has dropped two places on the Reporters Without Borders annual press freedom index for 2007 to 35th. According to Reporters without Border’s annual report "Australia lost ground because of anti-terrorist laws potentially dangerous for journalists." Australia is now behind developing African nations Benin, Ghana and Namibia.

The RWB report continues: "In February, the government also banned the press from freely covering the arrival in the country of Papuan refugees. Generally speaking, numerous restrictions are imposed on journalists wanting to cover the plight of people in Australia’s camps for asylum-seekers."

The International Federation of Journalists has entered the debate regarding the changes to Australia’s cross-media ownership laws. The IFJ General Secretary Aiden White said "if (the media ownership) laws lead to fewer voices in a media landscape then that is an attack on the right to freedom of expression...in a democracy, when the power to control news and information is reduced to a handful, then that is a fundamental assault on democracy."

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Freedom of Information

An important part of our democracy is the ability to access privileged information through Freedom of Information legislation. Particularly for journalists who are charged with the responsibility of informing the public, the ability to apply for and be granted documents through FoI is essential. Unfortunately, many FoI requests drag on for years without a result leaving journalists frustrated and the public in the dark. Scott Richardson takes a look at the efficiency of FoI in Australia.

This week the NSW Government announced that its election promise to widen the Spit Bridge in Sydney’s northern beaches has been dumped.

Despite rumours it was going to be dropped, the Government swore by their promise, which formed a significant part of the local Independent MP’s campaign to be re-elected to the seat of Manly.

The Liberal candidate in the seat had launched Freedom of Information requests before the election to determine whether the widening proposal would ultimately go ahead, however there was no response.

Only now, after the election, has the decision to not go ahead with the proposal been announced.

The impotency of our FoI laws in this case clearly shows the ramifications for democracy and how a Government, by ignoring FoI, can try and manipulate an electorate.

This is of course not the only example of FoI failures in Australia.

The recent High Court decision in McKinnon v Secretary, Department of Treasury also demonstrated the limited scope of FoI laws in Australia.

The Australian Press Council said this decision gave “fresh impetus to suppress information that is embarrassing or politically inconvenient.”

News Limited Chairman and Chief Executive John Hartigan was quoted in The Age as saying it was “difficult not to conclude that the Freedom of Information laws are now effectively lost as an avenue for making governments open, transparent and accountable.”

Indeed, there are inherent defects in the Freedom of Information Act (1982) that allow Government agencies to excuse themselves from revealing requested information.

For example, Section 24 of the Act says that FoI requests can be refused if "in the case of an agency--would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations."

The first difficulty here is the ambiguity of the phrase ‘unreasonably.’ What is reasonable or unreasonable is at the discretion of the agency itself. Michal Alhadeff’s report Denying the Public’s Right to Know recommends this power be balanced against a public interest provision.

Another issue is with Section 33 (1)(a)(iii) which states that information can be withheld if it "would, or could reasonably be expected to, cause damage to the international relations of the Commonwealth." So does that mean any information of wrongdoing on behalf of the Government, whether it be a trivial error or an issue with serious implications, may be withheld and never come to public attention?

Surely FoI is in need of serious reform and could be strengthened by the following amendments:

1. Create a new FoI system that stops the Government having the ability to make a
final determination of whether certain information is within the scope of the
Freedom of Information Act by abolishing 'conclusive certificates.'

2. Creation of an independent tribunal that adjudicates FoI disputes.

3. Enforce penalties on officials and/or departments that deliberately hinder FoI
requests.

Michal Alhadeff in her report also recommended the following changes:

4. Redraft the language of the Act so that it explicitly favours disclosure of
information.

5. Make all provisions that provide exemption from FoI subject to a ‘tangible harm’
test.

6. Create a ‘new culture’ by promoting FoI inside government and create incentives
to FoI officers as well as comprehensive advice on FoI changes.

7. Create a collective of journalists, academics and interest groups to establish an
information management system so that information is easily traceable.

It should be noted that the federal opposition have recently signalled their intention to make FoI easier and more accessible. We now wait in hope for Mr Howard to match the ALP.

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