Impact of Australian Press on Democracy
Does the Australian Press Enhance or Undermine Democracy?
INTRODUCTION
Australia is one of the world’s largest democracy and the freedom given to the people and the media is vast in such a form of government. With the introduction of the new media laws and regulation, things for the press have been in doldrums with more restrictions and with the new media laws coming into force the freedom of press have been heavily compromised and this regulation has also increased monopoly as there have been several restrictions for the entry of foreign firms into the media industry and heavy screening of contents can be a big threat to the democracy and the freedom of its people (Simons, 2006). Australia used to pride itself of being a democracy but after the new regulations there have been a lot of changes and now according to the 2013 Press Freedom Index it is ranked 26th. It is time the Australian government ease the laws otherwise he country might lose the essence of its democracy (Javier,2009) .
The media has a big role to play in democracy as media is considered the strength of democracy. Today the media makes people aware of what is going on around the world be it any segment. Democracy is founded upon the principle of freedom to choose and live. Media helps in fostering this principle by using the fundamental right of speech and expression (Simons, 2006). The media may publish and showcase things which may hurt the sentiments of the government or its officials or a particular sect of people, but the institution of press is holy and it is founded on the principle of revealing the truth to the society about the society and its good and bad side which people might be unaware of. The world and the society rely on the media to provide facts and interpretations of the world (Simons, 2006). Australians are no different than the world community. The Democratic Countries encourage media growth and encourage diversity in order to prevent the government from influencing it. But this principle has been grossly violated by Australia as the newspaper groups like John Fairfax and News Limited hold over ninety per cent of the market share having a monopoly. This shows that the press is slowly and gradually losing its sanctity and essence. This is not a healthy pattern as Democracy is nothing without press(Simons, 2006). There is a wide possibility of government influencing the newspapers; this leads to circulation of false information which is capable of misleading the public into something even if it’s untrue and false. And another most shocking revelation is that Australia has only three news television network. Experts argue that Australia is slowly losing its essence of being a democracy and is fostering such a growth which could hamper the development of the nation. (Steve et. al, 2006) These sources of information are subject to gross misuse and undue influence. It is said that the media and press have formed a sort of relationship wherein one is in a position of exercising its influence on the other like election coverage etc (Steve et. al, 2006). The faith people had on media is slowly fading now and there is no way that the condition of the press is going to improve in fact it will worsen in the years to come. Journalists are known to be the first line of defence in the battle of freedom of speech and expression. The amount the media enjoys freedom is the measure of that country’s democracy. Australia once prided itself to be a liberal democracy and now it has not been able to do justice to that (Urban, 2013).
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Australia which once prided itself on being a democracy has lost its charm. Australia was ranked 30th in the world for freedom of press i.e., for media freedom. The Australian Government controls the media laws in two segments (Hank and Jenine, 2008). The Constitution of their Country allows strict regulation of the contents being aired, telecasted or published also their Constitution commonly known as the Commonwealth uses these powers mainly for the regulation of licenses of television, radio and newspaper publishing. The second being the Government has the power to regulate print media and the Corporation which own the respective newspapers and also has the power to control foreign ownership of media (Hank and Jenine, 2008) .
The Australian Parliament in October 2006 passed legislation for new media laws which would be enforceable from April 4, 2007. There were several amendments made in the Broadcasting Services Act, 1992 which is made for regulating the content being broadcasted on commercial television, radio and the content being published in newspapers and tabloids(Convergence Report, 2013). The Act was originally made to promote diversity in media ownership but the new act or rather the revised version has seen a shift in this trend wherein the media has concentrated the ownership and deters diversification. This can be seen as a dangerous trend as this curbs the freedom of speech and expression of the media (Convergence Report, 2013) .But one thing which has seen a positive development is that the new amendment has lifted the foreign and cross ownership restrictions in this industry. Now the Media Companies are allowed to open up two media outlets be it newspaper, television or radio in one area. Media Mergers under the new law are subject to the approval and permission of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC, 2013).
The new laws have shown signs of curbing the freedom of speech and expression of the media as they have first of all concentrated the media ownership to a few restricted major market players creating a monopoly.
Also, the “two out of three rule” allow the firms to own any two forms of media within television, newspaper and radio. The media desperately requires diversified ownership to report the news in an open and fair manner. In 2006 in the Roy Morgan Poll which was conducted over 80 per cent journalists criticized the new amendments and laws which were framed saying that the curbed the freedom and these laws were subject to abuse by the politicians and the Commonwealth Government. (Fog and Agner, 2004)
If a journalist is working for a firm it is most likely to happen that his story is published in newspaper, television or radio and even websites with the advent of internet. The Productivity Commission and the Australian Broadcasting Authority in their findings have reported that the editors and journalists were directly influenced by the Publishers and their motives(Simons, 2006) . The main motive of the Publishers is making money through the story which they think would sell the most this in turn has led to self- censorship which has corrupted the entire purpose of informing and educating the people (Convergence Report, 2013) .Also, the Publishers and Owners are extremely powerful and influential and the journalists and editors cannot do anything about it. In the recent years there have been some new entrants in the media industry like new channels have started broadcasting which have increased the options of Australian viewers. However Foxtel still continues to be a market leader in the Australian television owned by media giants like Telstra, News Limited and PBL (Phil et al., 2009).
Freedom of media is the bedrock element of democracy. The very essence of Democracy if freedom. But the Australian Government suffered a setback in terms of its governance when it passed the recent legislation. Media also performs the duty of a watchdog and keeps the government on its toes by reporting about them from time to time. The most recent scandal was the Phone Hacking Scandal of News of the World for which Rupert Murdoch was held responsible was completely illegal and was a gross violation of someone’s right to privacy(Thompson, 2011). The consequences of the scandal have been severe as the Government has now challenged the freedom of press. There are three ways in which the prevention of such incidents could take place without curbing the freedom of media too much. The first thing could be the convergence review of the media and communications scope. The second thing is media inquiry and the third thing would be to introduce the tort of breach of privacy to prevent such scandals in the future (Lavarch, 2012). The Federal Government’s Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has undertaken the convergence review in Australia (Marian, 2009). Business Council of Australia, President Mr. Tony Shepherd has raised concerns over the recent government reforms for control of ownership of media and curbing of diversification has said that today the Government is controlling the media industry then tomorrow it can control other industries which are of public interest (Convergence Report, 2013).
The Convergence Review has also revealed that such a test increases certainty while hindering investment and innovation. Further Mr. Shepherd noted that there is not much attention being paid to devising an effective strategy about optimum use of technology and use of technological innovation and the impact it has on the consumers (Convergence Report, 2013).
Democracy is also free circulation which is practiced effectively structured and embodied I human action and thought (Elaine, 2008). The Australian media has shown signs of irresponsibility and falsehood. For example ABC channel’s Media Watch has telecasted some sloppy stuff regarding deceptive practices which is supposedly misleading. Robert Manne has stated that he senses bias on part of the owner of The Australia which he relates to Rupert Murdoch owner of News Limited and the Editor Chris Mitchell. Rupert Murdoch himself said that he uses the seventy per cent market share to his own advantage so that he remains dominant in within the political mainstream and this can only happen if he supports the right wing (Manne, 2011).
The Newspaper “The Australian” contains a lot of information which is misleading. The newspaper has its tabloids filled with Aboriginal History, Climate Change, and the Iraq War as well flamboyant character assassination of certain reputed academicians, journalists, political parties and politicians (Elaine, 2008). The Australian has no social motive but only functions with one motive that is money and its single minded political agenda (Manne, 2011).
Bob Hawke has observed an interesting trait wherein the people are more interested in the entertainment news rather than the informative news of importance (Tanner, 2011). It’s like a Master’s degree older is keen and curious to know the dress being worn by Kim Kardashian the next week. On the contrary Barry Jones does not hold the media responsible for this sorry state of affairs (Jones, 2011).
Michael Lavachar has suggested that national media group tests should be conducted. And the Mergers within major national media- Key Newspapers, Commercial Televisions, Subscription Television, the largest radio network should be subjected to restrictions. If this is combined with a statutory right to privacy there would be a stronger media regulatory framework which can avoid those loopholes which are being implemented or urged by the experts now (Balson, 1999).
The ongoing debate about the freedom of media to express its ideas and expressions is never ending. The main problem arose only when the new reforms were introduced pertaining to the media laws. Even though there was not much change but the changes which could change the face of the media industry in Australia and around the World (Balson, 1999). One good thing which was there in the bill was the unrestricted entry of foreign companies. The diversification of the media industry helps in its growth and maintains the sanctity of this institution. The concentrated growth in the Media Industry is harmful as it creates a nexus amongst the newspaper corporations and the politicians wherein both the parties are in a position to dominate each other or influence. In an age of commercialization, media is not far behind (Elaine, 2008). The Publishers and Owners have their commercial interests and this has ended up misleading the public. Only that news is published which would sell. The interest of the citizen comes first in the dispute between citizen and commercial interest (Corrales, 2009).
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