Current Issue
Abstracts of Vol 13(1), April 2007
Edited by David Robie
Editorial
A cooperative future
Ian Richards and David Robie pp. 5-7
Theme:
JOURNALISM DOWNUNDER
1. Commentary: Reflecting the new realities of the digital age
Matt Mollgaard pp. 8-18
Three broad themes reflecting the role of the media in the digital age emerged from the Journalism Downunder journalism education conference in Auckland in December 2006. These were trepidation, confusion and celebration. The sense of trepidation relates to a fear of the unknown and unknowable: a sense that digital technologies are changing at a speed that confounds attempts to master them before they morph into new forms. Another theme was the confusion created by the new digital technologies. This confusion is related to the fetish-isation of gadgets and the growing gap between those who have always interacted with the digital world and those who have had it thrust upon them. The third theme was cautious celebration. The power, speed and usefulness of digital creation, transmission and reception opens up communication and the media to people in previously unimaginable ways. This commentary is an overview of papers presented at the conference, with some general conclusions reached about the future of journalism in the digital age. While the new digital platforms and technologies do present significant challenges to traditional journalism, they are also enabling technologies that offer opportunities to reinvigorate newsgathering. Although the future of journalism is a digital one, the core competencies of a good journalist will be as important as ever.
2. Commentary: Pasifika media in the digital era
John Utanga pp.19-28
The proportion of people who identified as Pacific Islanders in New Zealand grew by 14.7 percent to 265,974 in the 2005 Census. Overall, Pacific people now comprise almost 7 percent of the total New Zealand population. As the Pacific communities have grown, so have the Pasifika media developed and grown. Today, most of the Pacific Islands community has become well served by radio, newspapers, online media and, to a lesser extent, television—but not well served by mainstream media. Almost all of the media services are owned/and or operated by Pacific Islands businesses or organisations based either in New Zealand or in the Islands. This commentary outlines the state of Pasifika media in New Zealand and the challenges ahead for telling Pacific stories in the digital era.
3. Commentary: Small Pacific states and media freedom:
A Kiribati case study
Taberannang Korauaba pp.29-38
For more than 50 years, the governments of Kiribati have manipulated the affairs of the Broadcasting and Publications Authority (BPA). The authority runs a radio station and newspaper reaching the majority of the population of Kiribati. The interference is simply a warning to those working for the authority that they do not have freedom to inform the public. In practice, the political opposition would oppose this interference, describing it as draconian and demanding more media freedom. But when the opposition came to power, it would also restrict the work of journalists. Thus reporters have often been caught in the crossfire between the politicians and are fearful of their future. Some journalists have been accused of being anti-government or sanctioning stories that embarrass the political leaders. This commentary explains—from the firsthand experience of this journalist—why in the digital era small Pacific nations such as Kiribati face a more fundamental issue: protecting the public’s right to know.
4. Privacy and the global media in the information age
William Akel pp.40-57
The protection of privacy is being increasingly recognised worldwide by the courts, and media regulators, as a result of what is seen as a more powerful and intrusive media, and the effect of the internet. A right to privacy may even apply in a public place. This article examines the impact this has on the media in the information age? New Zealand now has a tort of interference with privacy. The criminal courts are also considering privacy values in issues ranging from suppression orders to release of court information to the public. The Broadcasting Standards Authority has revised its privacy principles. Codes of conduct with regard to the print media also acknowledge privacy. But the protection of privacy has its genesis in the 1890s and not in the digital age. A seminal article by Warren and Brandeis, ‘The Right to Privacy’ (1890), was a reaction to what was at that time seen as an over-powerful media. United States jurisprudence evolved to the Prosser and Keeton formulation in the 1960s. New Zealand jurisprudence has relied on this formulation to advance privacy rights. The English courts have taken a similar approach in the much publicised Douglas v Hello! and Naomi Campbell cases. The European courts, as a reaction to an overactive paparazzi, have pushed the bounds of privacy in the Peck and Princess Caroline cases. The High Court of Australia considered privacy in Lenah Game Meats Pty Ltd. Finally, the International Covenants and protection of privacy.
5. Communications, contacts, ethics and the mysterious
slow death of the contemporary police reporter
Philip Castle pp. 59-74
This article, based on interviews, research and the author’s personal experience in the media for more than 30 years as a police/crime reporter, former Head of Public Affairs for the Australian Federal Police and journalism lecturer, will examine the unique challenges and role of reporting police/emergency/crime journalism—how it can work and how it can break down. It will particularly examine the mostly unequal relationships between journalists and official sources where the various emergency services, notably the police, trade on releasing selected information and avoid releasing information if it is unfavourable or inconvenient. It will cover the important aspects of sources, both official and unofficial, on and off-the-record agreements, anonymous sources, ethically and unethically obtained material and the all important overriding considerations of the law including criminal processes, defamation, sub judice, jurisdictional restrictions, pre-trial publicity and trial by the media. These stories can challenge even the most experienced journalist placing demands on almost all of their skills. If done properly, journalists can fulfil the paramount responsibility of informing the public on critical matters and maintaining the media’s role of being an effective Fourth Estate.
6. The virtual newsroom: Using the wiki for training student print journalists
Susan Hetherington pp. 76-86
This article analyses how, during a one-year project, a wiki was established to enable student print journalists to collaborate to create a professional print news product. The idea was to replicate a professional newsroom where a second set of eyes is always cast on material before publication but to do so in an environment that provided flexibility of access and therefore
accommodated demanding student timetables. The wiki provided a space for student peer editing of news and feature stories enhancing the collaborative, creative and critical literacies of those involved. The article explores how peer review (in the writing process) helped these reviewers become better writers and ultimately better journalists. It reviews literature regarding the use of wikis as a collaborative learning tool and uses student surveys to assess the success of the pilot project.
7. The Post-Courier and media advocacy: A new era
for Papua New Guinean journalism?
Patrick Matbob pp. 87-104
The Papua New Guinea media is often described as ‘free’ and ‘vibrant’ compared to other media in developing countries in the region. The style of journalism and the news values are based on the Western model familiar in developed countries, where objectivity is one of the conventions of journalism practice. This is a result of influence on the PNG media by Western news values through a history of ownership of the local media and training in journalism provided at the workplace and at journalism schools in PNG. However, the coverage of two major national issues by PNG’s national daily Post-Courier has signalled a shift in reportage style in PNG to one of advocacy journalism. The two major issues are the
National Superannuation Fund of Papua New Guinea (NASFUND) corruption crisis and an anti-gun campaign. Although at present both issues have dropped out of the media, they have yet to reach satisfactory conclusions. The prosecution of people involved in the NASFUND mis-
management is pending while the anti-gun campaign report has been tabled in Parliament, but nothing has been heard about it since. This article examines the role of the Post-Courier and its coverage of the two issues and why it chose to use advocacy style journalism for its coverage. The coverage has drawn criticism from sectors of society and other journalists. The article also examines the views of journalists in Papua New Guinea about the Post-Courier’s coverage and advocacy journalism.
Reporting the Fiji coups
1. Elite sources, journalistic practice and the status quo
Anthony Mason pp. 107-123
In a time of crisis, when there is a significant amount of uncertainty about the means and motivations of those involved, news sources have the ability to determine how an event is represented to an entire society. But who are these sources, and what kinds of institutions do they speak for? Do elite sources dominate the news, and if they do, what is the impact? In the 20th anniversary year of the two Sitiveni Rabuka coups in Fiji, this article takes a mixed methods approach to an investigation of the Australian coverage of the coups in 1987 and 2000. Three Australian broadsheet newspapers —The Australian, The Canberra Times and The Sydney Morning Herald —provide the sample for a content analysis, which focuses on the kinds of sources used in the coup coverage. In particular, it highlights who the sources were and the kinds of institutions they represented. Fifteen journalists who covered the coups in Fiji were interviewed about the experience of covering the coups, including the task of finding reliable, credible sources. Their answers are compared with the results of the content analysis in order to gain a broader understanding of how the Fiji coups were covered.
2. Fiji 2000: Journalists and the George Speight coup
Christine Gounder pp. 125-141
Much criticism of both the local and international media’s role during the May 2000 coup in Fiji emerged after the crisis. Critics included editors and journalists of the local and international media and political and historical analysts who knew the ‘real reasons’ behind the coup and did not see this being reported. This article analyses interviews with 17 journalists, 13 local four foreign reporters, who covered the coup, and their reaction to criticisms made against them over coverage. It also assesses possible effects on some journalists by the so-called Stockholm syndrome because of their close association with businessman George Speight and his fellow captors who held the Mahendra Chaudhry government hostage for 56 days.
Articles
Sydney freelance journalists and the notion of professionalism
Jahnnabi Das pp. 142-160
Freelance journalists experience constraints in their practice which impact upon their independence; yet they invoke the idea of professionalism similar to that of the employed journalists to justify their position as journalists. However, the reality of their practice makes them accept the imperative of the rules of game set by news managers and others, which significantly compromises their independence. An in-depth interview of freelance journalists working in print media in Sydney, Australia, reveal that this is a true analysis of the prevailing situation for the freelance journalists, making their claim of professionalism weak. However, the complexity of the situation is manifested in a strong sense of public service prevalent among Sydney freelancers. As freelance journalists are becoming significant in number in many parts of the world (IFJ, 1999), the question of professionalism in freelance journalism should be considered as an important aspect in any comprehensive discussion on journalism.
Information provision and restriction: The roles of the police, media and public in coverage of the Coral-Ellen Burrows murder inquiry
Ann Hardy and Alastair Gunn pp. 161-181
Six-year-old Coral-Ellen Burrows disappeared in September 2003 after her stepfather, Stephen Williams, had apparently dropped her off at school, though in fact he had murdered her. After extensive searches, her body was found 10 days later. Williams pleaded guilty to murder and was duly sentenced. The intensive cross-media coverage of the search for Coral-
Ellen—of the kind that Innes (1999) commenting on media and police interactions in Britain calls ‘blitz coverage’, made this case the pre-eminent news story of 2003. However, the attenuated nature of the search also exposed some of the tensions inherent in the relationships between those parties interested in the case. We understand these to consist of six entities which have an existence that is both material and conceptual: these are the victim’s family, possible suspects, the local community, the police, the media, and the national public, in this case envisaged in a dual role as wider community and media-audience. All of these stand in relationship to the more abstract yet rigid institution of the law, whose dictates guide the behaviour of the police, and strongly influence that of the media. This paper reports on research carried out by analysis ofNew Zealand Herald, Wairarapa Times-Age and TV One coverage of the case, and by two interviews with journalists investigating the forces that shaped the media coverage.
Research report
Still European and female, but older: Profiling the New Zealand journalist
James Hollings pp. 183-195
Four voluntary surveys in the past 20 years have profiled the age, income and other descriptors of New Zealand journalists. However, the response rates have raised questions about the representativeness of the data. This article draws data from the non-voluntary 2006 Census, supplied by Statistics New Zealand, to give a profile of the age, sex and ethnic distribution of a large subgroup of journalists—those described as reporter, subeditor or editor. It shows the approximate median of these New Zealand journalists is 41 years old, female, European, and earning $44,751 a year. This is slightly older than indicated by voluntary surveys. Other findings are that reporters have a higher approximate median income than either editors or subeditors. Women, Maori and Pasifika peoples are more likely to be in lower paid occupational subgroups. A comparison of survey and Census data suggests that they get comparable results for gender ratios, but approximate median incomes vary considerably and age distribution to a lesser degree. Voluntary surveys may be missing a group of editors and older journalists.
