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ACMA: Broadcasters should consider new self regulatory regime

ACMAMedia watchdog, The Australian Communications and Media Authority, has today invited radio and television broadcasters to propose a new regulatory regime that would see some powers move away from the statutory regulator, towards a body similar to that of The Australian Press Council.

At a panel discussion today on issues of fairness and accuracy ACMA authority member Louise Benjamin said the authority was open to regulatory change and invited broadcasters to propose a new regime around tougher self regulation.

The suggestion from the regulator could see the legislated powers of the ACMA decrease but also the emergence of a self regulator with more “mid tier” powers, such as the ability to force a broadcaster to issue an on-air correction. Currently ACMA has only limited powers around removing a broadcaster’s licence and often left to reprimand breaches of the Codes of Practice, through so-called “enforceable undertakings”, without being able to force them to correct them on-air.

“The invitation I put out was for broadcasters to come up with a self regulatory model,” said Benjamin. “At the moment it’s a co-regulatory model which means the TV or radio station is the first port of call. I put that forward as part of the first principles review of both television and radio and it would be really good to see how they think it should be done.”

“I was inviting them to put forward a completely self regulatory model which would be their way of how this (complaints) could be best managed,” she said.Benjamin made the remarks after a discussion involving many industry professionals in the audience and an “accuracy panel” being hosted as part of the Citizen Conversation series, which the ACMA is hosting the series as part of its ‘first principles’ review of the broadcast Codes of Practice.

Among the panel members members on the discussion were Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes, journalism academics Jenna Price and Margaret Simons, chairman of the Australian Press Council Julian Disney, Ten TV journalist Natarsha Belling and Chris Willis, director of news at Channel Seven.

In earlier discussions, made before Benjamin made her declaration, Holmes responding to a question about whether ACMA should have the power to force on-air corrections observed: “The Press Council can insist on its members publishing it’s adjudications but the ACMA can not. Isn’t that interesting, the self regulator has much tougher rules about (corrections) than the statutory one. ”

Holmes also cited last week’s ACMA finding against the WIN Television which he said make the watchdog look “futile”. “In the case of WIN that is a case where the regulator is made to look futile. It finds a serious factual error, the news service says up yours, we disagree with you and they can’t do anything,” he said.

Last week’s finding saw ACMA rule that WIN had broadcast incorrect assertions about vaccines from a non-expert. But WIN refused to broadcast a correction.

Benjamin said any changes to the regulation would also likely involve changes to the rules around the types of factual accuracy a regulator is required to investigated.

“In that context I put forward a self regulatory model, one which like the Press Council self regulatory model would have to include the ability to order an on-air correction or acknowledgement as part of its sanctioned toolkit.”

“We have been asking for this power for some time and the reason we have been asking for it is twofold: one because we think it’s important to have a mid-tier power between enforceable undertakings, which can achieve something, and suspending a licence, that it is appropriate to undo the harm, to inform the viewers that we got it wrong.”

Any shift to a self regulatory model changes to regime would require in a change to legislation.

Journalism academic Margaret Simons told the audience the ACMA’s current lack of midrange powers was a problem. “There should be a range of powers, I don’t think all facts are equal and there are the trivial things which you don’t need to take up,” said Simons.

“But there should be the power to force a correction on the website and in extreme cases in a program and I think it would be extremely rarely used.”

Nic Christensen 

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