Fascinating revelations from the AFR today:
Federal cabinet is set to approve and present to Parliament a tough public interest test for media ownership that could vet investors such as Gina Rinehart and the expansion plans of Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd...
Cabinet is also backing a new regulator to make media “more accountable” and force outlets to run apologies, retractions and rights of reply...
The push to limit media comes as a dispute over editorial independence has led to Mrs Rinehart being denied a board seat at Fairfax Media (publisher of The Australian Financial Review) and as News Corporation prepares to unveil plans to split its operations in two to staunch damage flowing from the hacking inquiry...
Labor senator Doug Cameron cited the Slipper affair yesterday in his push for greater regulation of the media, particularly News Ltd. “The conduct of News Ltd over a long period . . . is a threat to democracy in this country,” he said...
Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon [said] Australian media was beginning to behave like that in the UK. “I think what we have seen over Craig Thomson is the first step down a Fleet Street style of journalism and clear evidence we need an independent regulator,” he said at the time.
Labor MP John Murphy said this week: “The Australian public rightly demands a high standard of objective, professional journalism. It is the duty of this Parliament to ensure that this demand is fulfilled by setting a framework of diversity and independence in our media.”
