APC Update 30 Jan 2017
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| APC UPDATE | 30 JANUARY 2017 |
| Council meme highlights importance of membership to upholding news quality |
| The Australian Press Council has released the first in a series of memes drawing attention to the critical importance of common standards and independent scrutiny in assuring the fairness and accuracy of the news, and thus in maintaining public confidence in the press and support for press freedom. |
| The memes highlight the paradoxical situation of some publications in Australia enjoying the absence of a federal regulator made possible by the existence of the Australian Press Council —a voluntary, self-regulation regime for print and online media—without making the commitment to join the body that ensures those freedoms. |
| “Non-members are, in effect, shirking their responsibility to contribute to the industry’s self-regulatory regime and in doing so they inevitably weaken it,” said the Council’s Chair, Prof David Weisbrot. “Worse still, this freeloading on the system creates space for those who would impose unwanted government regulation on the sector. |
| “The 900-plus mastheads that currently comprise the Australian Press Council have made a powerful commitment to develop high standards and good practice and to open themselves to independent scrutiny through the Council’s complaints-handling processes. Through their membership, they provide the financial, human and intellectual resources necessary to make the current system effective. |
| “The Press Council believes that in light of the growing litany of threats to media quality, free speech, press freedom and to journalists themselves, it is now, more than ever, the time for media organisations to work energetically and cooperatively with the Press Council to safeguard these pillars of our democracy. Press freedom is a shared enterprise that underpins our democracy, and the recent crackdown in Turkey and the ‘fake news’ controversies in the United States and elsewhere demonstrate how fragile this precious freedom can be.” |
| The Australian Press Council was established in 1976 and is responsible for promoting good standards of media practice, community access to information of public interest, and freedom of expression through the media. The Press Council is also the principal body with responsibility for responding to complaints about Australian newspapers, magazines and associated digital outlets. |
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| Australian Press Council Address: Level 6, 309 Kent St, Sydney, 2000 Phone: (02) 9261 1930 or 1800 025 712 Fax: (02) 9267 6826 Email: info@presscouncil.org.au Web: http://www.presscouncil.org.au |
