That is important because ‘the devil is in the detail’, but we should not forget the big question about the various ‘independent commissions’ that have been suggested.
Some of them are needed. We need an independent electoral commission to supervise the whole process of elections, from the compiling of the voters’ roll to the counting and publishing of the votes. We have never had a truly independent and impartial body to do this job. We need one which will ensure that in future our elections are free and fair – and transparently free and fair. If the average voter can’t see that there has been no cheating, rigging, coercion or undue secrecy about how elections are run, s/he won’t trust the result.
Similarly, we need commissions that are transparently impartial and not bribable, to select suitably qualified and independent-minded judges and senior police officers.
But do we need a government commission, however independent, transparent and impartial, to regulate the Press? The law courts, the police and the conduct of elections are all, to some extent, activities of government, though not of the ruling party. Collecting and publishing news is not, because an important part of the news is about government and how it is working – not only parliament and the majority party within it, but also the civil service, the police, the judges and how elections are conducted. Some people would say the last of these is most important of all,
If government had the power to regulate what the newspapers, radio and TV say about these things, would you trust them not to hide from us any part of the story they don’t like?
The Press and the media must be subject to some controls. Most people would be unhappy if our TV could show pornographic films in prime time; everyone would agree that reporters and editors should not be allowed to publish libels about anyone, whether the president or your local road-sweeper, but there are laws about these things already. Anyone who is offended by anything in the media can complain to the police and the courts and, if an offence has been committed, ordinary law, not AIPPA, can deal with the matter.
Every profession has its own standards it must observe, but doctors, engineers, architects and even lawyers have their own professional associations to ensure their members don’t bring their profession into disrepute by disregarding professional standards. Journalists are no different. They need a body they elect themselves to ensure that their members behave well in doing their job. I would not want a government commission to decide whether a journalist had libelled the government when we should already have law courts that can defend everyone, not only politicians from libel. Would you?
Post published in: Opinions