Newspapers unite with redacted front covers for first time because Australians have a ‘right to know’ about government secrecy
Australian newspapers all look the same today – completely redacted. This unprecedented and united act of self-censorship from rival publishers calls attention to eroding press freedom and how governments can cover up stories to keep the truth from the public.
The front pages of newspapers from every major media company, including The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Daily Telegraph, are redacted to remind Australians that they have a ‘right to know’, following Australian Federal Police raids on News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the ABC’s headquarters earlier this year.
Both The Daily Telegraph and ABC are awaiting the outcome of the raids, including a decision as to whether targeted journalists will be prosecuted. 75 laws related to secrecy and spying have been passed over the passed two decades, which journalists argue are serving to criminalise their craft and penalise whistleblowing.
Today’s front pages
“Australia is at risk of becoming the world’s most secretive democracy. We’ve seen the public’s right to know slowly erode over the past two decades, with the introduction of laws that make it more difficult for people to speak up when they see wrongdoing and for journalists to report these stories,” ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, said.
“No one is above the law but something in our democracy is not working as it should when we fail to protect people acting in the public interest.”
Nine’s CEO Hugh Marks added that this is “much bigger than the media”.
“It’s about defending the basic right of every Australian to be properly informed about the important decisions the government is making in their name,” he said.
The campaign is accompanied by research that reveals 87% of Australians value a free and transparent democracy in which the public is well-informed, yet only 37% believe Australia is meeting that standard.
Ads launched last night to support the message, running across print, digital, radio and television with the aim of reaching every adult Australian.
Executive chair of News Corp Michael Miller has taken to his mastheads to prompt Australians to ask “what are they trying to hide from me?” when the government imposes new restrictions upon journalists, the Sydney Morning Herald has released an explainer about the campaign, and top journalists like Hedley Thomas are retelling their own experiences of people in power attempting to silence sources.
“Australians should always be suspicious of governments that want to restrict their right to know what’s going on,” Miller said.
And already, the campaign is gaining traction. #Righttoknow is trending number one on Twitter, and #PressFreedom number two. Home pages of Australia’s major publishers are saturated with press freedom stories. And the industry’s union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), is on board to support and amplify the message.
This is why Australia’s journalists’ union @withMEAA is part of the #righttoknow coalition.
We can’t sleepwalk into a secretive authoritarian society https://t.co/9e8HmRKnJ8
— Marcus Strom (@strom_m) October 20, 2019
“The police raids on the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the headquarters of the ABC in Sydney were direct attacks on media freedom in Australia but they are just the tip of the iceberg,” said MEAA chief executive Paul Murphy.
“The time has come to wind back these excessive laws and to decriminalise public interest journalism and whistleblowing. The protection of sources must be enhanced, and the congested Freedom of Information system needs to be unblocked.”
The Right to Know coalition, whose members include MEAA and major news publishers, wants legislative changes that mean journalists don’t fear imprisonment for doing their job. Proposed changes would also mean the government has to consider the public interest before applying for search warrants and launching prosecutions. They would provide protection for whistleblowers, and ensure systems that limit government secrecy.
Three quarters of Australians agree journalists should be protected from prosecution when reporting in the public interest. 88% said whistleblowers play a vital role in society.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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General secrecy rule:
Secrecy = your money in my pocket
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One of the most important issues we face. Government regulation of media as we currently have it is broken. Already the PM is pushing back. We do not live in a secret or police state, but that’s where we are starting to head. A loud voice of protest is required.
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I love it. This restores much of my lost trust in journalists and newspapers.
My personal opinion of the government’s interxxxx is XXXXX XX
xxxxxx xxxxx xx x xxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxx x xxxx xxx xxx.
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This is collusion with which I agree. Just the withholding of information by governments at Federal, State and Local levels with the excuses of “Cabinet in Confidence” and “Commercial in Confidence” is bad enough. They spout “transparency” while sweeping all non-corroborating facts under their respective carpets. We need as many tools as possible to hold self-interest legislators to account. Media freedom is essential to these processes.
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The issue of government suppressing freedom of speech, media freedom and the right to know is a highly valid one especially in the era of right-wing populism.
But big business and high-profile individuals can also be engaging in suppressing media freedom and the right to know. This can be in the form of defamation lawsuits and using all sorts of restraining orders to proscribe the publication of material that should be available for the public, especially key stakeholders.
What needs to happen is that the campaign extends to judicial and business practices when it comes to the dealings regarding big business and individuals who are in the public eye.
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This argument would be so much better if people who call themselves journalists had a track record of providing “the truth”. So much of what is written today is one-sided, alarmist nonsense and/or gossip and as a result today’s so-called journalists are considered no better than the people this seeks to call out. To mix metaphors, put your own house in order before seeking assistance to help throw stones at others.
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Bit ironic since none of those mastheads support Julian Assange or even write about him anymore.
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That’s because Assange is not a journalist. Duh!
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Agree 100% with this.
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Agree with you much more than usual on this.
Journalism needs protecting from government suppression, but it equally needs protecting from owner suppression.
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I like the idea. I like the execution.
But why not go the whole hog and just not report any of the government’s PR drivel. After all they did accidentally send it to the media recently.
A decent journalist shouldn’t be regurgitating what Canberra wants.
As an example, get on the front foot with some of the usual ‘headline grabbers’.
Let’s start with “we’ve created a million jobs over the past ‘x’ years”. Append to that the population growth over the same period of time, how much was due to immigration and porous visa activity, then report the proportion of the working-age population that is employed – full-time and part-time. Then you would get a true and full picture that our jobs growth is primarily due to record immigration levels, rather than the government ‘creating jobs’ when they are reducing government expenditure in labour-based areas.
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It’s an ironic fact that advertising is a cornerstone of a strong democracy. The more advertising there is the more news that can get reported. It would be great to see advertisers and media agencies show their support for press freedoms.
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What then, makes someone a journalist in the eyes of the law?
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