Why The Australian is un-Australian: all ego and little heart: @journlaw comments

First they came for journalism educator Julie Posetti, for simply tweeting some critical comments made publicly by a former staffer of The Australian. [That time I did write a commentary in Crikey about why editors shouldn’t sue for defamation.] Then they came for Matthew Ricketson, Greg Jericho, Margaret Simons, Wendy Bacon, Martin Hirst and Jenna Price […]

Selling out ethical journalism: @journlaw on @theage secret recordings #springst

[clear] It is a sad day when senior political figures steal a journalist’s recording device and destroy its contents, as we have been told happened at this year’s Victorian Labor conference. But it is an even sadder day when we hear a major newspaper – The Age – justifying a senior reporter secretly recording their […]

Why Australians should care about World Press Freedom Day: @journlaw

Readers of NoFibs reap the rewards of citizen journalists expressing their news and views with a high level of free expression by world standards. So why should Australians care about media freedom on World Press Freedom Day 2014? Quite simply, because it is a ‘fragile freedom’ – continually under threat and only noticed by most people once […]

Abbott’s attack on ABC proves politicians are free press chameleons – @journlaw reports

[clear] By Mark Pearson  @journlaw 5th February 2014 Politicians are free expression chameleons. Regardless of their political colours, they are inevitably staunch advocates of a free media and the free flow of information while in opposition. When they win government they tend to shut down criticism and negative press by implementing policies and passing laws to limit […]

Mindful ethics for election bloggers and citizen journalists

By Mark Pearson, Professor of Journalism and Social Media, Griffith University, Australia 10 August 2013 Bloggers and citizen journalists come from an array of backgrounds and thus bring varied cultural and ethical values to their blogging. No Fibs asks its citizen journalists to follow the MEAA Code of Ethics, and the journalists’ union has recently […]

The basics on blogging and tweeting without getting sued

Margo: This is the third post in our series exploring the meaning of journalism. Professor Mark Pearson, an expert in media law, outlines the basic legal issues journos must keep in mind. by Mark Pearson May 29, 2013 Countless laws might apply to the serious blogger and citizen journalist because Web 2.0 communications transcend borders into […]

Media reform laws address abuses of long-fought for freedoms

By Matt da Silva (@mattdasilva) March 15th, 2013 Source:Happy Antipodean In a useful run-down on his blog, journalism law academic Mark Pearson outlines some objections to the government’s proposed media reform legislation. It is a little brief and although it starts out promisingly, political concerns quickly rush to the fore. Here’s his first objection, near the top: […]