"The World Association of Newspapers annually organises a World Press Freedom Day initiative to draw attention to the role of independent news and information in society, and how it is under attack. "
What's the point of banging on about press freedom in the Pacific when in Australia, an American owns most of our media?
It might be more useful if they considered why it is the majority of our so-called journalists fail to comply with the Journalist's code of ethics:
(1) They shall report and interpret the news with scrupulous honesty by striving to disclose all essential facts and by not suppressing relevant, available facts or distorting by wrong or improper emphasis.
(2) They shall not place unnecessary emphasis on gender, race, sexual preference, religious belief, marital status or physical or mental disability.
(3) In all circumstances they shall respect all confidences received in the course of their calling.
(4) They shall not allow personal interests to influence them in their professional duties.
(5) They shall not allow their professional duties to be influenced by any consideration, gift or advantage offered and, where appropriate, shall disclose any such offer.
(6) They shall not allow advertising or commercial considerations to influence them in their professional duties.
(7) They shall use fair and honest means to obtain news, pictures, films, tapes and documents.
(8) They shall identify themselves and their employers before obtaining any interview for publication or broadcast.
(9) They shall respect private grief and personal privacy and shall have the right to resist compulsion to intrude on them.
(10) They shall do their utmost to correct any published or broadcast information found to be harmfully inaccurate.
The Murdoch media loves to posture about its battles with the Federal, the Queensland and other state governments to obtain certain documents suppressed under the mis-named various Freedom of Information laws, otherwise known as the "Your right to Know" Campaign, yet fails abjectly to report basic, useful, readily available information such as what is what is said in Parliament. See for example my article "Media contempt for facts in NSW electricity privatisation debate" of September 2008.
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