We have boat-loads of media diversity in this country. Here is the AFR justifiably railing against public intrusions into the practice of private media enterprise, which, we all surely understand, are being motivated by a purely political fear about what private citizens freely publishing their views might say about the performance of the government of the day. Simply stated, it stinks (excerpt only):
The media inquiry was inspired by the phone hacking scandal in Britain, which had no relevance to Australia. The response of the government was to cobble together left-leaning legal and media academics to make a loaded political case that suited the government’s partisan interests. Those interests included attacking News Ltd in the aftermath of the phone hacking scandal, and now perhaps in blocking Gina Rinehart in her efforts to gain a board seat at Fairfax Media...News Ltd may run an aggressive line against the Gillard government but that is its right and it will be judged by its paying customers. Politicians should not wave threats of regulation against those in the media, or other industries it considers unfriendly to them.
