27 drafts later … New amended Public Interest Disclosure Bill unveiled in NSW … Procedural reforms … Recommended standard for external disclosure to the media diluted by the government … Ombudsman critical of “significant hurdle” … Maxim Shanahan reports … more
Category: Media Matters
Government’s closed shop
Government actively resisting FOI applications … Grata Fund research … Excuses from government agencies to deny requests … Delays in breach of the Act … Prohibitive fees … Opportunities for strategic litigation … Janek Drevikovsky reports … more
Who is on trial?
Christian Porter and “trial by media” … The complainant is being picked apart by the right-wing media, while Porter is transformed into the victim … Criminal allegations now subject of a civil process … Culture warriors cast facts aside … No evidence that mainstream media has alleged Porter’s guilt … Repetitive template reporting … Janek Drevikovsky reports … more
Swan Television and Radio Broadcasters Pty Ltd (Channel Nine Perth) & Ors v The State of Western Australia [No 8]
Media application to WA Supreme Court to broadcast police interview with Claremont killer … Application refused … Accused had not yet been sentenced … Open justice outweighed by the need to safeguard the “administration of justice” … Attempt at a balancing exercise … Anna Kretowicz reports … more
Zhang v Commissioner of Police & Ors
High Court challenge … Foreign inference laws and Lange … AFP raids on parliamentarian and senior advisor … Suspected role of CCP in political affairs … Espionage and related offences … Whether the Criminal Code impermissibly burdens the implied freedom of political communication … Challenge to search warrant … Anna Kretowicz reports … more
Dark clouds for journalists in the Sunshine State
Attempts to silence reporting on political corruption during Queensland elections … “Integrity” law reform … “Trad laws” … Circumventing the “risk” of incorrect information … Compatibility with the State’s Human Rights Act … Criminalising journalism … Wither shield laws … Anna Kretowicz reports … more
The Espionage Act, the 1st Amendment and “journalism”
Pressing questions … Is Assange a journalist, a publisher, a combatant in information warfare, a tool of Russia? … Do journalistic standards apply? … Does it matter? … The superseding indictment … The Espionage Act and the First Amendment … Lacunae in the law … Janek Drevikovsky explains … more
Something to “consider”
National security’s impact on media disclosures … Tepid response from PJCIS on press freedoms … What chilling effect? … Beefed-up public interest advocates … Whistleblowing in the wind … “Considerations” for government … Janek Drevikovsky reports … more
Jawboning about press freedom
The ALRC’s free speech forum … The case against great media scrutiny … Security academic warns against relaxing national security controls … Media access to classified material might fall into foreign hands … “Hostile actors” … Claim that Australia’s media is increasingly foreign-owned … Closed courts not necessarily a threat to accountability … Other panellists press the case for “legitimate journalism” … Janek Drevikovsky reports … more
Media lawyers’ data review
Updated table … Data journalism … Lawyers engaged in media law litigation … Revised survey of the last three-and-a-half years … Most active law firms and barristers … Success rates measured in terms of court appearances … The data does the talking … Charts and graphs galore … A window but maybe not the entire picture … Janek Drevikovsky reports … more
Rossi v Qantas
Media granted access to Federal Court pleadings despite objections that defences have not yet been filed … Leave may not be given for case to proceed … Workplace harassment case … Is a statement of claim a pleading? … Human Rights Commission … Legitimate motivation of the media to report the proceedings … Janek Drevikovsky reports … more
Keeping journalism out of the state’s grasp
Melbourne Press Club webinar … “What are your rights if you are raided?” … How journalists should handle sensitive documents that disclose sources … Consequences for defamation … Danger posed by mobile phones… AFP’s unacceptable delay in Afghan Files investigation … Journalists left in a protracted state of uncertainty … Greater safeguards required for search warrants issued against the media … Stephen Murray reports … more