- All
- Observations (16)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | > >> | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
- January 2007 (16)
- More...
XML Feeds- FV
- anthonw
- MrSinister
- Guest Users: 442
This is Roxanne Cooke blogging from Sydney, Australia. Within the first few days of tromping around this massive city, I’ve noticed that it’s more tourist-friendly than Melbourne. I hear fewer Aussie accents, and those I do hear seem more subtle (or maybe I’ve just gotten used to them). I feel less of an outsider with my American accent, whereas in Melbourne I felt I should try to blend in and talk like the Aussies – so much so that I accidentally spoke in an accent on a few occasions.
Unfortunately, the people in Sydney appear less friendly. When the 16 of us took a bus together, all those icy stares could’ve cooled us off for the rest of this trip. In downtown Sydney, the crowds somehow permit people to be pushy. It’s not awful, just different from Melbourne.
Today (Monday) we visited the Australian Press Council, which is similar to the Washington News Council, except that its coverage is nation-wide. The purpose of the APC is self-regulation of print media (newspapers and magazines) through a public complaint process.
Australia has no Bill of Rights like the U.S. does, so freedom of speech is not a guarantee. In fact, Executive Secretary Jack Herman told us it’s a constant fear that freedoms will be lost. The APC acts as a sort of fifth estate, keeping check that the media are fair, balanced and accurate, while at the same time preserving the freedom for media to publish what falls under public interest.
The problem (for any press council) is that many journalists take offense that they are being regulated. After all, one of the goals of journalism is to act as a watchdog and keep tabs on governmental bodies. Because of this, the APC is completely independent from the government – which means it has little power. On the other hand, if it had that sort of authority, it would lose credibility. It wouldn’t work.
As a class, we’ve read in our textbooks and heard from Australians that the APC is a “toothless tiger.” No one mustered up the courage to ask Jack Herman for his response to that criticism, but it would have been an interesting question to pursue.
I’m curious: What do the journalists out there think?
--Roxanne Cooke
