Letters patent
ELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth:
GREETING
WHEREAS freedom of opinion and expression is an inalienable right of a free people.
AND Australia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 of which declares: “Everyone has the right of freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
AND it is in the public interest for the public to have access to a wide diversity of sources of information and ideas, views and opinions, both as a public good in itself and to ensure that the people remain adequately informed and equipped to hold their governments to account.
AND it is acknowledged that these principles are best supported by the ownership of media being diversely held and the channels of media dissemination being diversely controlled.
NOW THEREFORE We do, by these Our Letters Patent issued in Our name by Our Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia on the advice of the Federal Executive Council and under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Royal Commissions Act 1902 and every other enabling power, appoint you to be a Commission of inquiry, and require and authorise you, to inquire into the consequences and risks of the concentration of media ownership and control in Australia, and in particular, without limiting the scope of your inquiry, the following matters:
a. the current effective ownership and control of distribution and consumption of mass media content, including on print, broadcast and digital platforms; and of social media news content;
b. the degree to which the ownership and control of content is concentrated and whether that concentration has increased and is likely to continue increasing;
c. the effects on and risks to media diversity caused by historical changes in ownership and closure of regional and local media publications;
d. the effects on and risks to media diversity caused by the integration of print, digital and broadcast media outlets by single owners;
e. the effects on and risks to media diversity caused by recent changes in ownership of AAP Newswire and announced plans by media owners to create competing newswire services;
f. the effects on and risks to media diversity caused by increased concentration of news distribution and consumption on digital platforms such as Google and Facebook;
g. the effects on and risks to media diversity and the principle of freedom of opinion and expression caused by the editorial practices of News Corporation-owned media publications, broadcasters and platforms in the context of its degree of ownership and control of mass media in Australia;
h. the extent (if any) to which the principle of freedom of opinion and expression, supported by media diversity, is advanced and protected by the maintenance of independent publicly owned media organisations such as the ABC and SBS.
AND We direct you to make any recommendations arising out of your inquiry that you consider appropriate, including recommendations about any policy, legislative, administrative or structural reforms.
I think you have missed the point. Sure diversity would be nice, but the fact is we don’t have it. And just creating more sources for the sake of diversity may not result in better news and reporting. What a Royal Commission needs to look at is that Murdoch’s media misleadingly and dishonestly dress up outright lies and propaganda as ‘news’. That’s the issue that needs an answer…..how do you require news outlets to be truthful while still maintaining media freedom?
Every time my local IGA tries to foist on me a News Corp publication for free (I assume this is to falsely get their circulation figures up because not many people would buy this rubbish), I complain that the checkout person is falsely claiming it is a newspaper when really it’s just propaganda. They always agree.
Saving their stocks of toilet paper by giving you a substitute.
A great photo of Murdoch. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Only one in the rogues gallery of media concentration & massive political influence. Mug shots of Kerry Stokes & Peter Costello should also feature here.
The HUN is the footy bible in AFL besotted Melbourne and the Terror does that for the rugby boofheads in Sydney.
Nobody reads them for the incisive analysis & brilliant reportage.
The OZ sells fewer nationwide than the SMH in Sydney even when it deems give-aways as sales.
Despite this miniscule reach – unknown exactly because the stable withdrew from the ABC system a decade ago – yet it is STB a game changer and read by all the important movers & shakers.
Virtually none of whom pay for it, subscriptions being tax deductible, just like the AFR.
(And 1st & Business class airline travel which means we oiks pay those costs through unavoidable PAYE.)
That all seems pretty reasonable,I am sure Scomo would have no trouble accepting that.Praise the Lord.
It deosn’t seemed to have dawned on many people that we face unprecedented psychological manipulation , all under the basic umbrella of media, their ownership and requirements, yet everyone knows that .
It is so ingrained in us that we can’t see or just simply implicitly accept this is part of the modern world.
It is a central plank in libertarianism and oft spouted by our PM, “if you don’t like it don’t buy it “,
Which is in itself deliberately and overtly avoiding the creeping and pervasive nature of gaining confidence by means of appealing to the emotive,, gains in psycho analysis and its history in “marketing ” a product, needing to be part of a group,/ inclusivity/ social beings.
It is disappointing that Kevin and Michael overlook this abuse of power