Buttrose’s tenure as chair was tainted by being a Morrison government ‘captain’s pick’, but she nonetheless defended the ABC against tat government’s predations.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on editorial independence
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Major public media reform in New Zealand is coming at the same time as trust in government and media declines. The proposed new law needs to make political and editorial independence a top priority.
Trump doesn’t just ignore science, he attacks it. Australia’s experts have an obligation to speak out on crises such as the coronavirus pandemic, even if it means picking a side in our politics.
The departure of journalist Emma Alberici from the national broadcaster is the latest example of the ABC being unable or unwilling to push back against hostile governments.
New research shows that journalists tend to only resist government interference when they fear it will seriously damage their career prospects’.
However, the problem of combining the managing director and editor-in-chief roles remains, and these must be separated to preserve editorial independence.
Mrdak, who interviewed both Milne and Guthrie, said they had no doubt the government was “very concerned at the issues of opinion and accuracy and editorial standards raised” in the several pieces.
The merger signals the death of Fairfax, and is the most consequential change in Australian media ownership in 31 years.
The public broadcaster’s editorial independence must be protected at all costs – from within and without.
Top contributors
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Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Head of the Journalism Department, City, University of London
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Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University
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Professor of Law, University of Waikato
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Professor of Law, University of Waikato
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Academic Lead of Media and Communications Research Cluster, The University of Edinburgh
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Senior Lecturer in Media and International Development, University of East Anglia
