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Wendy Bacon Responds To News Corp

When you criticise Rupert Murdoch's News Corp you should expect a backlash, as Wendy Bacon found when she published her report on the coverage of climate change at Australian newspapers.

№ 3 in Women in the Media

Fairfax's sense of gender balance

I'd just finished watching an ABC Q&A show about feminism and decided to take a flick through SMH on iPad before retiring. I started noticing lots of male images. Had the program on feminism oversensitised me to sexism? But it wasn't the first time I'd noticed what seemed an overwhelming preponderance of male images on the SMH iPad version. Indeed it was questions about whether my initial perceptions were accurate or simply the product of an odd bad male day at SMH that led me to get involved in New Matilda's Where are the women in the media? project. We're looking for hard facts. Part 3's on the way.

Conroy's All Or Nothing Media Reforms

Yesterday, Stephen Conroy announced an ultimatum: if his media reforms aren't accepted verbatim in parliament, he'll dump the lot. Is there anything in the package worth defending, asks Wendy Bacon.

Effective media accountability does not have to threaten journalists' independence

Journalists, especially those from News Ltd, and right wing commentators promote the illusion that the Australian Gillard Labor government is threatening to 'regulate' the media in response to rigorous scrutiny of its performance.  It has even been suggested that the Australian Labor Party is bullying News Ltd which is by far the most powerful media owner in this country.

War-Weary Journos Must Return To Battle

As if job cuts weren't enough, Rinehart's raid will inhibit the culture of journalistic independence that exists at Fairfax. Wendy Bacon on why journalists must speak out to protect their profession.

What Happens When The Media Attacks?

Wendy Bacon has more media knowledge than most - but it didn't help when she was recently savaged by News Ltd. Do errors of fact mark the limits of free speech?

Media Inquiry A Welcome Start

The media inquiry announced by Stephen Conroy on Wednesday falls short of expectations but is a good start, writes Wendy Bacon. Have your say on the terms of reference here.

The Questions Harto Won't Answer

News Ltd boss John Hartigan has assured the punters that all's well at Holt St. So why won't he answer Wendy Bacon's questions about how journalism gets done at his papers?

Questions for the CEO of News Ltd - they remain unanswered.

As the phone hacking scandal blew up in Australia where News Corporation controls 70% of the metropolitan audience in the most concentrated media in the developed world, News Ltd CEO John Hartigan assured the public that nothing so heinous as phone hacking would ever happen in Australia. There was no evidence to doubt his word, but it seemed to me that each media context was different. News corporation is a integrated global company. Some stories got by phone hacking by News International were certainly published here. There were also other questions to which it would be useful for Australia readers to have answers.

Questions for an Australian Media Inquiry

There is debate about whether we should have an Australian inquiry into the media and in particular News Ltd which controls 70% of our print media and chunks of our sport and TV industries. I would have thought with arrests of News executives for criminal and corrupt activities and investigations into whether the company is 'fit and proper' to hold licenses, an inquiry would be on the agenda. Some journalists disagree, fearing that an inquiry could lead to state control. Those of us pushing for an inquiry need to be clear on the issues it should explore and what we hope to get out of it.

No Rules For Murdoch To Break

Why does Australia have such a concentrated media and such a weak system of self-regulation for media owners? To help make sense of all this, I made a brief timeline of media regulation in Australia. You can find it here in New Matilda. Back in the early seventies, Murdoch even opposed the foundation of an Australian Press Council ( APC) funded and controlled by the media organisations. He later joined by then withdrew after a finding of bias against one of his newspapers.  News Corporation later rejoinedfter the APC did not pubicly oppose his takeover of the Herald and Weekly Times. This was a crucial step which made him the dominant media boss in Australia. He was assisted by some political mates who were disgruntled with media company Fairfax's investigative journalism.

Media In The Firing Line

What sort of questions should a parliamentary inquiry into media ownership and regulation tackle? Wendy Bacon has a few ideas - and we invite you to add your own.

Why News needs Regulation

Today I published a piece on News Corporation, phone hacking and implications for Australia. I was surprised by how easily commentators and reporters in Australia were prepared to accept that the key issue for us is whether phone hacking actually happened at News Ltd  papers in Australia.