To know in danger
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2019 themercury.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397
“We asked the question as to how much he was getting paid and we’ve been told it’s commercial- in- confidence,” Mr Uhlmann said.
“That is literally ludicrous application of that law.”
ABC news director Gaven Morris said Federal Police raids on his newsroom just days after one at a News Corp journalist’s home were deliberately designed to intimidate whistleblowers.
“There was a message being sent to potential whistleblowers and it had a very potent impact,” Mr Morris said.
“Journalists will have a second thought but then get on with their job. A whistleblower will have a second thought and turn the other way.”
Nine group executive editor James Chessell said repercussions of the raids were already being felt, with one whistleblower telling a reporter they were “freaked out” before withdrawing from a story.
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance chief executive Paul Murphy said many other journalists told him “that they’ve lost sources, that they’ve lost stories” because whistleblowers felt threatened.
News Corp corporate affairs, policy and government relations group executive Campbell Reid said the Morrison Government needed to make urgent legal reforms to protect the public’s right to information and to ensure freedom of the press in Australia: “There is now an opportunity to go back and look at those laws, take a breath, fresh set of eyes, and say actually several of these go too far.”
In a submission to the inquiry, 14 media organisations argued for six main changes to protect public interest journalism, including the right to contest warrants against journalists and media organisations, protection for public sector whistleblowers, changes to Freedom of Information and defamation laws, limits for restricting government documents, and protection for journalists threatened with jail for doing their jobs.
The Senate Press Freedom Inquiry is due to publish its findings in March 2020. News Corp publishes the Mercury.