The federal parliamentary press gallery will boycott the Pacific Islands Forum if the Nauruan government doesn’t reverse a ban on visas for ABC journalists. Nauru, which is hosting the forum, said on Monday it would not grant visas to ABC journalists for the event, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will attend.
In a statement, gallery president David Crowe said they had acted in good faith to nominate three journalists to cover the forum and share their work with other media organisations, including an ABC camera operator.
“If the ban is not reversed, the media pool will be disbanded. If one cannot go, none will go,” Crowe said. “The decision by the government of Nauru to pick and choose the journalists who cover the Pacific Islands Forum is an appalling restriction on press freedom … We oppose the Nauru edict because it is wrong in this instance and because it sets a dangerous precedent.”
But the gallery boycott won’t apply to News Corp, if Daily Telegraph national political editor Sharri Markson is to be believed. She tweeted this morning that News Corp “does not support this ludicrous ban”, and “you can read all the news from the trip in News Corp papers”.
Associate editor of The Australian, Chris Kenny also tweeted against the boycott calling it “pathetic”, accusing political journalists of “acting like try-hard unionists”.
After some initial criticism, the Nauruan government doubled down yesterday afternoon on its ban, responding to criticism of its decision to refuse any ABC journalists a visa to enter the country. “We remind the ABC that we — like Australia — have every right to refuse a visa to any person or organisation that we believe is not of good character, and that entry into our country is a privilege not a right,” it said in a statement.
Turnbull wouldn’t comment yesterday on whether he would lobby the Nauruan government to reverse its decision.
“We support press freedom, naturally, and we regret that the ABC has not been given a visa, but that is a matter for Nauru,” he said. “It is up to Nauru who comes into their country, just as it’s up to our government, my government, as to who comes into Australia.”
The NZ Press Gallery issued a statement yesterday criticising the Nauruan government’s decision to ban the ABC.
“Nauru’s decision to ban media based on unfavourable coverage is a clear violation of freedom of expression, as is necessary in a healthy democracy,” the statement from gallery chair Stacey Kirk said. “This decision follows already restrictive reporting conditions, limiting the number of journalists who can attend this important regional summit. While infrastructure contraints play a role in limited pooling numbers, we are appalled by this attempt to control media coverage.”
The ABC responded to the ban yesterday, with news chief Gaven Morris confirming they would not vacate their position in the pool.
Nauru appears a tad over sensitive about receiving accurate coverage by our most trusted broadcaster. Surely there’s nothing amiss on the island, nothing to fear…?
In the meantime we can be confident in the knowledge that News Corp will give it the usual treatment.
Zut I’ll give you my take on your last sentence: In the meantime we can be confident in the knowledge that the NewsCrap maggots will give it the usual treatment.
Limited News will be doing Limited News Party PR? Next.
If the ABC can’t go, does that mean the PM is just peachy keen to only be reported by the mudorc’s minions?
Let’s just hope that he doesn’t extend the idea to on-ground matters here.
It’s not even partisan – remember Nifty’s refusal to deal with the ABC?
Scrutiny, they don’t like it up ’em!
Bob Hawke complained like a cry baby about the ABC too.
One of the warning signs of fascism (left or right) is seeking to control the media. If Chris Kenny thinks Nauru’s decision to censor the free media is OK, then it says more about him than anything else he has written. He seems to think principle (sic) is another name for a school head master.
Shari Markson and Chris Kenny, if that’s the brains trust that will be covering the Pacific Forum then stand by for some extremely soporific copy. A pair of talentless hacks who’ve got where they are because of their connections rather than any inate skill.