Henry Mayer Lecture 2013: Quis Custodiet …? Reflections of a Media Watcher

Abstract

During hearings for the inquiry into press regulation, one newspaper proprietor suggested to Ray Finkelstein QC that his journalists were ‘more afraid of Media Watch than of the Press Council’. To counter what he saw as the Australian Press Council's ineffectiveness, Mr Finkelstein recommended a statutory News Media Council to enforce ethical and editorial standards on the print and online media. Although – judging by online comments – such a move might well have proved popular with consumers of news, the mainstream media rancorously opposed it on the grounds that it would threaten freedom of speech. The more cogent objection, however, was that would be unnecessary, and ineffective. Cases of individuals badly maligned, bullied or otherwise damaged by the media are comparatively few in Australia: those cited by Ray Finkelstein, on closer examination, were neither clear-cut nor amenable to regulation. And, while regulating accuracy is possible, regulating ‘fairness' (especially if that means attempting to root out political bias) is well-nigh impossible. The opportunity for the most desirable reform to media regulation – a self-regulatory regime that would cover all media on all platforms – has been lost. But this article argues that the digital revolution might well provide solutions. Over time, it will dilute the dominance of the major news outlets in Australia – especially News Ltd. And for the first time, it affords injured or affronted consumers a means to band together and hit back at Big Media in ways that are both swift and effective. We are all Media Watchers now.