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‘A free press is universally recognised as essential to the way any democracy should work – that’s why it is hard-wired into most democratic constitutions.’ Photograph: David Gray/AAP

For any law to be effective, there needs to be clarity. Most legislation is so mind-numbingly formal and technical because it is drafted to avoid any confusion about exactly what the law allows, what it forbids, who it applies to and the consequences of breaching it.

Yet, when it comes to the role of the media in Australia, legislated confusion abounds.

A free press is universally recognised as essential to the way any democracy should work – that’s why it is hard-wired into most democratic constitutions. The First Amendment to the US constitution protects press freedom there. The Human Rights Act does it in the United Kingdom.…  Seguir leyendo »

When the Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the headquarters of the country’s national public broadcaster on June 5, it came loaded for bear.

Six agents from the federal police arrived at Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s headquarters in Sydney to execute one of the most extensive search warrants ever carried out in Australia. Disregarding ABC journalists’ commitments to protect the identities of their sources, the warrant gave the agents the power to take any relevant files and recordings, and even gave them power to delete or alter documents.

The AFP gave ABC’s IT experts keywords that they believed would capture any documents or notes that journalists had used in preparation of “The Afghan Files”, a story broadcast by ABC in 2017.…  Seguir leyendo »

The businessman Chau Chak Wing was awarded nearly $200,000 in a defamation lawsuit against one of Australia's biggest media companies. Credit Peter Rae/Epa-Efe, via Shutterstock

In the decade I spent reporting from China, the most immediate obstacles to journalism were often physical. They took many forms: barricades blocking access to certain places; men in military buzz cuts trailing me; plainclothes thugs stationed in front of the homes of people I planned to interview; and of course, the threat of police detention. In one memorable incident, an official threw himself in front of the car I was riding in with colleagues to delay our departure, precipitating an unseemly shoving match. These physical manifestations of state power were designed to muzzle through intimidation and brute force, occasionally reinforced with threats of visa refusal.…  Seguir leyendo »