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Press Council seeks to regulate ‘serious bloggers’ as it prepares for standards review

australian press council logoThe accuracy and quality of print journalism is not necessarily matched by the same publishers’ online products, the chairman of the Australian Press Council has warned.

In a report marking his first year at the helm, of the Press Council, Prof Julian Disney signalled that 2011 will see a “standards review project” looking at the organisation’s code of conduct and suggested that “serious bloggers” might be encouraged to join. He said:  

“The Council’s jurisdiction includes both the print and on-line publications of its members. It is increasingly receiving complaints about on-line content which raise difficult issues about the extent to which existing standards and processes for print need to be adjusted or supplemented for on-line content. The assertion by many editors that the same standards should apply to print and Internet does not appear to be appropriate or realistic in all circumstances. Certainly it is not always being applied in practice, even by some who espouse it.”

In his report, Prof Disney revealed the the APC will examine how its standards compare to other media regulators.

He said: “The Council has decided to commence a major review of its standards and related material. This will include drawing on its existing statement of general principles to expand the range of specific situations for which it publishes guidelines or other advice. It will also draw on existing standards from other media regulators and publishers’ internal codes, and will canvass the views of consumers. Practical examples, whether real of or hypothetical, will accompany the standards in order to enhance their relevance and impact.”

The APC – which represents voluntary rather than legislation-based regulation of written journalism, is mainly funded by Australia’s print newspaper publishers. Prof Disney warned that the rise of “the internet and related technologies” had the potential to damage accuracy and quality. He said:

“These developments can enable a greater range of information and opinion to be accessed and disseminated more widely, quickly and economically. On the other hand, the greater opportunities and pressures to publish rapidly can adversely affect the accuracy and quality of content. Print publishers are now subject to intense competition from on-line sources which do not incur printing or distribution costs and, in many cases, draw mainly on material generated by others rather than employ their own journalists. Some of these sources are less constrained by principles of good journalism, especially if they are effectively shielded from identification and sanction.”

He added: “The assertion by many editors that the same standards should apply to print and Internet does not appear to be appropriate or realistic in all circumstances. Certainly it is not always being applied in practice, even by some who espouse it.”

Prof Disney suggested that the Press Council could seek to regulate bloggers . He said: “At present, only one of the Council members publishes solely on-line. The Council will continue to invite other on-line publishers to become members and thus subject to its regulation. This reflects a desire to avoid unnecessary duplication, inconsistency or gaps between the regulatory processes which apply to print and on-line publications in the area of news and current affairs. Consideration will also need to be given to the possibility of encouraging membership by serious bloggers who focus on the same area.”

Calling for members to promote the Press Council on their websites, he went on: “It might help, in a modest way, to combat an Internet-induced ‘race to the bottom’ which many experienced editors and journalists believe is threatening the standards and eventual viability of high-quality journalism.”

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