Superlative
Senior Member
- Mar 13, 2007
- 1,382
- 109
- 48
.............The Freedom of Information Bill will, hopefully, lead to a Freedom of Information Act and do away with the Official Secrets Act.
Part of it says: "Under the Act, public institutions will be required to produce any record on request of any person, unless the institution can show a specific statutory exemption."..................
..............But the Media Bill shows why politicians want to control the media. In an election year, the significance is not lost on observers. Every so often, various people ask questions on journalism. Why are you bent on sensationalised stories? Do you have secret weapons against politicians? Why do you misquote people? Why are your stories cheap? Why don’t journalists do more research?............
...............The media find themselves in a difficult situation when society rewards strong-armed politicians for attempting to crush journalism. Indeed, it is not strange to hear journalists told: "You brought it upon yourselves." Is there any rationale in gagging the media through a statutory Media Council and at the same time proclaim a Freedom of Information Bill? What is its use in an environment where the media are stifled?...................
................By dictating who will chair the proposed Media Council and fund it, the Media Bill undermines press freedom and ominously shows that the Government is walking backwards into the abyss of dictatorship. ............
....................As the Fourth Estate, journalism is a veritable voice of the people. Who else can society turn to when those who should be people’s representatives raise their salaries in a dying economy, attack media houses and renege on promises as vital as constitutional review?
Society would be doing a great disservice to itself by giving politicians the rope with which to hang journalists. Perhaps, by attempting to rein in the media, politicians hope to sweep their failure and misdeeds under the carpet as captive media applaud.......................
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143969298
Part of it says: "Under the Act, public institutions will be required to produce any record on request of any person, unless the institution can show a specific statutory exemption."..................
..............But the Media Bill shows why politicians want to control the media. In an election year, the significance is not lost on observers. Every so often, various people ask questions on journalism. Why are you bent on sensationalised stories? Do you have secret weapons against politicians? Why do you misquote people? Why are your stories cheap? Why don’t journalists do more research?............
...............The media find themselves in a difficult situation when society rewards strong-armed politicians for attempting to crush journalism. Indeed, it is not strange to hear journalists told: "You brought it upon yourselves." Is there any rationale in gagging the media through a statutory Media Council and at the same time proclaim a Freedom of Information Bill? What is its use in an environment where the media are stifled?...................
................By dictating who will chair the proposed Media Council and fund it, the Media Bill undermines press freedom and ominously shows that the Government is walking backwards into the abyss of dictatorship. ............
....................As the Fourth Estate, journalism is a veritable voice of the people. Who else can society turn to when those who should be people’s representatives raise their salaries in a dying economy, attack media houses and renege on promises as vital as constitutional review?
Society would be doing a great disservice to itself by giving politicians the rope with which to hang journalists. Perhaps, by attempting to rein in the media, politicians hope to sweep their failure and misdeeds under the carpet as captive media applaud.......................
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143969298