Muzzling the press !

The " Craig Thomson " affair did a lot of damage to the credibility of the Australian Labor party.    The unions are an integral part of the Labor machine and the fact that union leaders were playing fast and loose with members funds did not go down well with Labor supporters.  To make the matter worse,  the usual faction fighting had events surrounding the matter leaking like a sieve - and now there are moves to strap an iron muzzle on all sections of the media.

A Labor enquiry has recommended that sanctions be imposed on journalists who publish leaked information from parliamentary enquiries.   It is suggested that these " leaks " be referred to the Privileges committee to deliver a verdict of " contempt " if evidence before any enquiry is published.

The suggested penalty would be the denial of access to parliament house for those found guilty of contempt, and this would apply not only to the Parliamentary press gallery, but to  external members of the journalistic profession.   In other words, a complete lock down on any writer who dares reveal the inner workings of an Australian government.

It completely ignores the notion of a " free press " whose job it  is to inform the nation of events within and without the houses of parliament.   The basic function of such a free press is to ferret out the dirty little secrets that politicians seek to keep from the public - and air this " dirty linen " in a public place.

We live in a world where a free press is a sign of an " open society ".  Many nations control their media with an iron fist and any journalist who gets out of line can see the inside of a gaol cell - or perhaps suffers an unfortunate " accident " on the way to work that results in an early death.

It seems that the suggestions from this enquiry accept that it is impossible to muzzle the whistle blowers who leak information to journalists.  People of conscience will not stay silent when attempts are made to mislead the public and so the vulnerable target is now those who process this information and share it with the world.

It is a defence that is doomed to failure. All that will be achieved is  a new transmission path - along which that leaked information travels.    We have seen the consternation that Wikileaks achieved when it published matter that governments wanted to be kept secret.   Muzzling journalists will not stop the information flow.  It will simply redirect it to the Internet and from there local journalists will be free to publish without the question of from whence it was obtained.   The Internet will provide the anonymity that separates the " giver " from the " receiver ".

Whenever there is a call to stifle investigative journalism, it rings alarm bells that more bad news is in the pipeline.   The release of unflattering commentary about the inner wheels of government is a normal hazard of politics.   The rising level of discomfort is directly geared to the future damage levels that those in the know can see emerging.

It is a pity that more effort is not spent cleaning up the emerging problems rather than simply trying to hide the facts from the public.    History tells us that despite the best efforts of some rather ruthless regimes, in the end the truth always finds a way to emerge !