This week we talked about freedom of the press, in regards to the phone hacking scandal. One of the opening statements was that freedom of the press is one of the best safeguards for democracy, which was said by former Prime Minister John Howard.
One important question asked was how far does freedom of the press go?
Things that hinder press freedom include privacy laws and sometimes government or policing authorities. While the press work independently of judiciary and legislative state powers, there are still situations in which information is hidden from the public eye. An example was given of the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005, where no evidence could be given of him being a terrorist. Police confiscated all footage, so little was publicised.
On the flip side, there are examples of the press going too far, such as hacking private conversations on phones. In this situation, it is the media which have moved to far out of line, whether it be due to unethical employees, the pressures of work to have good stories or both.
While the media is considered the fourth estate, keeping people accountable by putting them in the public eye, how far is too far? When do private matters need to be made public, and when is prying into private lives sharing things that should stay personal?
It appears that although the press pride themselves on keeping others accountable, it is in fact the public that keep them accountable when they take freedom into their own hands.
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