Around a day ago, the Australian Federal Police raided the ABC headquarters in Ultimo, Sydney due to a news story they produced in 2017 called the ‘Afghan Files’. This, along with the raid on a Newscorp’s journalist’s house a day beforehand has called into question the freedom of Press in Australia. But why exactly is Press Freedom so important to Australia?
The most obvious reason in which Press Freedom is important is the reporting of news and informing the public of national matters. Despite the rapid influx of news coming from online and social media sources, the press and journalists are still seen as the most credible and reliable sources on information. As such, part of their job is to report on the issues surrounding society and tell the hardest truths that need to be told to keep the public informed. For the public within a democratic nation, journalists and the press are one of the greatest information sources and as such weapons against possible autocratic governments. By revealing the wrongdoings and scandals of governments, the public is kept informed and knowledgable on what is best for Australia, though it is up to the public to properly utilize any information. As such, should the freedom the press has on reporting be restricted officially or deterred through policing, the public loses one of their strongest tools in keeping democracy fair and free. This is clear with the destruction of free media in places like China and the ex-USSR, where the media was forced and cohered into supporting the country and never going against it. While Australia is certainly not at that level, journalists and press companies need protection to ensure they can publish critical stories without having to look over their shoulder for the AFP.
At the same time, the same protections should extend to the sources of the stories which journalists report on. While press freedom is a basic tenet of democracy and one which keeps it fair and free, it would be naught without the whistleblowers and sources which allow for these journalists to present the stories they do. As such, the need for press freedom extends even further than just the press and journalists. Without protection for whistleblowers and otherwise those who provide the journalists with evidence to present stories to the public, there will be none of them left due to fear of getting jailed. Without them, opposition to scandals and hidden acts a government does could effectively fall to zero as news companies are unable to even find out about these stories in the first place.
As such, it is only right that Australians continue to support a need for legislated press freedom, extending from journalists to their sources. Without it, the raids that the AFP have done could become a usual thing, though it is almost unthinkable for it to occur in Australia. At the very least, sites need to continue to be critical of the government and all sides of politics, as to show that the police deterrence will not deter independent, fair and critical thinking from occurring.
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Mass media and politics – how can we be informed?
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