The current imbroglio over the ABC underscores a point made by Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the US and author of the Declaration of Independence: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost”.
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The media is not an organ of government. It is a reflection of public opinion as well as being a conduit of information. Any entity that seeks to limit those functions also seeks to limit the basic freedoms of the people. It is not a mark of a strong government that tries to meddle with a free press, but the mark of a weak one.
Australia currently ranks 19th on the World Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by the organisation Reporters Without Borders. It is important to note that this year’s index was made before the current crisis with the ABC, as the entry on Australia’s press freedom notes: “While Australia has good public media, the ownership of its print media is heavily concentrated. Two media groups – News Corporation (owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch) and Fairfax Media – are responsible for 85 percent of newspaper sales. Media coverage of refugees and Australia’s offshore refugee detention centers (Nauru and Manus) is very restricted. Whistleblowers who disclose information about conditions in the refugee centers or operations by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization are now exposed to the possibility of imprisonment”.
Our public media is now under threat from a government that appears unduly sensitive to criticism.
Some years ago the ABC’s catch-phrase was “8 cents a day”, which is the proportion of our tax that went to fund the public broadcaster. Let’s say that figure is now 10 cents a day due to inflation (and also because it’s easier to do the maths). There are roughly 13 million taxpayers in Australia, which means our 10 cents a day each adds up to a healthy $474.5 million per annum. That’s our share of ownership of the public – the public’s – broadcaster.
North Korea has state-owned media. China has state-owned media. Eritrea has state-owned media. Australia has public media. Without full freedom of the ABC to reflect public opinion and bring us the warts-and-all news of our country and the world, what do we have left? Certainly not Jeffersonian liberty.
Some things are worth fighting for, and this is one of them.
