The number of reporters covering Australian courts is steadily declining as most major news organisations cut staff across the board … Hannah Wootton examines the trend and its consequences for journalism and the public, in this special report … more
Category: Media Matters
What is public interest journalism?
The idea of public interest journalism rests on the notion that it exposes necessary truths … But is journalism in a state to do so in the fast moving digital world? Melbourne University media and politics academic Andrea Carson looks at the issues in light of the Future of Public Interest Journalism Inquiry … more
Goodbye to all that: s 40 Crime and Courts Act, Leveson Part II and a reformed press
Debate over press regulation – independent and otherwise – continues apace in the UK … In this article Leeds University media law academic Dr Paul Wragg critiques the Conservative Party’s U-turn on press reform … more
The threats to journalist sources are very real
Recent events have demonstrated just how concerning the threat to journalist sources remains … Head of the department of journalism at Curtin University, Associate Professor Joseph M. Fernandez, looks at the evidence and calls for action … more
The persecution of Kate McCann
The media has been at its salacious worst in the case of missing child Madeleine McCann … Kate McCann given the Lindy Chamberlain treatment … Libel action fails at all levels … The tragedy made worse by bungling Portuguese police and judiciary … Sohini Mehta reports … more
Let’s be reasonable
Forget 18C – Australian defamation law holds a far more dangerous threat for journalists, writes Michael Bachelard … In this article, he looks at where the law fails the practice of journalism and suggests how it could be improved … more
Appeal court orders Vice Media to produce source communications to police
Ontario Court of Appeal gives Vice Media short shrift and orders it to produce source communications to the police … A ban on reporting police evidence is also upheld … Paul Schabas, Iris Fischer and Ravi Amarnath review the judgment … more
Australian Press Council launches Reconciliation Action Plan
Last week in Sydney, the Australian Press Council announced another initiative – a Reconciliation Action Plan aimed at the nation’s Indigenous media … Naaman Zhou was there, along with the council’s first Indigenous publication member, the Koori Mail … more
Media and public to get “viewing terminals” for live-streamed court proceedings
Open justice to get a boost in the UK as the government prepares to introduce laws to allow journalists and the public access to “virtual” court proceedings via “viewing terminals” … Media and information law academic Judith Townend examines the proposals … more
Trump’s America: the land of the not-so-free press
In an America where President Trump continues to hold the media in contempt and reporters are arrested and charged, where is the First Amendment? Sussex University journalism academic Ivor Gaber looks at what’s behind the parlous state of politico-press relations – and what’s at stake … more
Open justice – a closed case in Australia?
The Australian media is being persistently stymied in its attempts to gain access to court exhibits, despite an avowed commitment to open justice … Kathryn Wilson looks at the law and the practice here, and in the UK, where a media protocol has been in place for over a decade … more
“Off the record” briefing was a breach of confidence
When is an “off the record” briefing with journalists a breach of confidence? When it concerns personal details collected by the tax department, according to a recent UK Supreme Court judgment …This case note and comment by Dan Tench … more